ED raids online payments firm in money laundering probe

The Enforcement Directorate has conducted searches at three premises pertaining to Coda Payments India Pvt Ltd in an ongoing money laundering probe.

The Enforcement Directorate has conducted searches at three premises pertaining to Coda Payments India Pvt Ltd in an ongoing money laundering probe.

These raids were conducted on the basis of multiple FIRs registered against Coda Payments India Pvt. Ltd. and 'Garena Free Fire' mobile game.

The raids were conducted in connection with an ongoing investigation under the Prevention of Money-laundering Act (PMLA), 2002 against Coda Payments India Pvt. Ltd. and 'Garena Free Fire' mobile game.

It is alleged that Coda Payments India Pvt. Ltd. which facilitates and collects payments from end users (mostly unsuspecting children) of games like Garena Free Fire, Teen Patti Gold, Call of Duty etc., in the name of monetising and generating revenue for web and game publishers.

It is further alleged that the game developers like Garena and Coda Payments India Pvt Ltd have intentionally designed the payment mechanism in such a way that after the first successful transaction, a notification pops-up which seeks permission to make subsequent payments without any authentication.

According to ED, as the children are not aware of these technical terms, they just click on the notification in a routine manner and end up giving authorisation to make all future payments without any further authentication.