Football betting scam worth Rs 1,400 cr: Chinese man creates app in Gujarat, dupes 1,200 people

The Gujarat police claimed that they have unearthed a case of digital deception, where a Chinese national collaborated with his partners in Gujarat to develop a football betting app that allegedly duped 1,200 people and managed to steal approximately Rs 1,400 crore in a span of 9 days.  

According to The Times of India, the mastermind, Woo Uyanbe, who is from Shenzhen region in China, was operating the scam from Patan and Banaskantha in Gujarat. He was in India between 2020 and 2022.

The Gujarat Police formed a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to solve the case given the magnitude of the operation.  

The report said the CID was first alerted about the case in June 2022 when it was discovered that perpetrators were duping victims — both in Gujarat and Uttar Pradesh — using the ‘Dani Data’ app. 

The Agra police initiated an inquiry, leading the CID's crime team to uncover the fraudulent scheme and connections to several individuals in north Gujarat. 

“During our investigation, we learned that the Chinese national was in India between 2020 and 2022. He spent time in Patan and Banaskantha, where he met many locals in these districts and lured them with promises of wealth. He and his accomplices in Gujarat then launched the app in May 2022. It invited bets and promised substantial returns,” an investigating officer told TOI. 

Given the range of the fraudulent scheme, Uyanbe managed to siphon off an astonishing average of Rs 200 crore per day by targeting individuals in the age group ranging from 15 to 75 years, with a keen interest in football games. 

The CID targeted nine Gujarat locals associated with the case, who allegedly assisted Uyanbe. It was found that the collaborators established shell companies, using them as conduits to divert and move the money. 

"The app operated for a mere nine days before abruptly ceasing to function, leaving individuals to realise that their invested funds had been slyly diverted," he added. 

The Gujarat police filed its first case in August 2022 for cheating and IT Act violations in Patan, but Uyanbe had left India by that time. 

Police sources quoted in the report said that Uyanbe is still actively operating his fraudulent network from Shenzhen, along with his accomplices in neighbouring regions such as Hong Kong and Singapore. He has reportedly employed multiple apps as instruments of deception. In March, the CID's crime branch filed a chargesheet in connection to the case.

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