--- title: "ED Arrests Armstrong Exchange Founder in APX Betting Probe" description: "The agency says proceeds of the All Panel Exchange betting and cyber fraud racket passed through mule accounts, shell firms and a Bengaluru credit society..." url: "https://bharat.digital/originals/armstrong-exchange-founder-sagar-dash-ed-arrest-apx-betting-laundering/index.md" canonical: "https://bharat.digital/originals/armstrong-exchange-founder-sagar-dash-ed-arrest-apx-betting-laundering/" published: "2026-11-01T23:05:00+04:00" updated: "2026-11-01T23:05:00+04:00" section: "Originals" type: "startup" author: "bharat.digital desk" image: "https://bharat.digital/img/originals/armstrong-exchange-founder-sagar-dash-ed-arrest-apx-betting-laundering-auto-e84fc3f6-og.jpg" language: "en-IN" site: "bharat.digital" --- # ED arrests Armstrong Exchange founder Sagar Dash, alleging betting money moved through a co-op bank account into crypto *The agency says proceeds of the All Panel Exchange betting and cyber fraud racket passed through mule accounts, shell firms and a Bengaluru credit society account opened for Dash's company before being turned into cryptocurrency.* By bharat.digital desk. Startup, Startups & Fintech. Published 2026-11-01T23:05:00+04:00. 2 min read. ![ED arrests Armstrong Exchange founder Sagar Dash, alleging betting money moved through a co-op bank account into crypto](https://bharat.digital/img/originals/armstrong-exchange-founder-sagar-dash-ed-arrest-apx-betting-laundering-auto-e84fc3f6-hero.webp) ## At a glance - Company: Armstrong Exchange - What it does: Bengaluru company set up by Sagar Dash, registered in the wholesale and retail trade category, that the ED says was used to route betting proceeds - Based in: Bengaluru - Latest: Founder arrested by ED in APX betting money laundering probe - Date: 2026-10-27 - Founders: Sagar Dash The Enforcement Directorate's Mumbai zonal office has arrested Sagar Dash, who set up Bengaluru based Armstrong Exchange Pvt Ltd, under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002, as part of its probe into the online betting platform All Panel Exchange (APX) and related cyber frauds. According to the agency's statement, reported on October 31 by Hindustan Times, Inc42 and the Free Press Journal, Dash was arrested on October 27 and a special PMLA court in Mumbai remanded him to ED custody for three days. The ED says the case started from three FIRs over online gaming, betting and cyber fraud in which complainants lost crores of rupees. Its account of the money trail runs in layers. Proceeds were first moved through several mule accounts at Jubilee Hills Mercantile Cooperative Bank in Hyderabad, then passed to shell entities, and large amounts from those entities then reached a nodal account at Nagarbhavi Credit Cooperative Society in Bengaluru that was held on behalf of Armstrong Exchange. The agency alleges Dash used the society's KYC details and fabricated documents to open a cryptocurrency account, and that hundreds of crores of rupees went through the society's bank account, a large share of it tied to betting and cyber fraud proceeds. The Free Press Journal reported that the ED says the arrangement was also used to make payouts to the bank accounts of several individuals. Dash is the second arrest in the case. Ram U Ramdhani, chief executive of Pune based Edsom Fintech Pvt Ltd, was arrested on September 28, the Free Press Journal reported. Citing ED sources, Hindustan Times reported on October 18 that Edsom ran an in house payment intermediary platform called iPaisa that allegedly onboarded more than 200 shell or front entities as merchants to move money for the betting operators and their agents. The Free Press Journal reported on October 17 that the agency was examining dealings worth Rs 958 crore involving Edsom, including Rs 341.66 crore allegedly received through payment gateways. In its latest statement the ED said earlier searches in Pune, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Surat and Mehsana led to the seizure of documents and the freezing of about Rs 9 crore across several bank accounts. For India's digital payments system, the case is a map of how illicit betting money is alleged to enter and leave the formal system: mule accounts, small cooperative lenders, a payments intermediary that registers shell firms as merchants, and finally crypto. Each of those layers depends on onboarding and KYC checks that, by the ED's account, were either borrowed or forged. These are allegations by the investigating agency and have not been tested in court, and none of the reports carried a response from Dash or Armstrong Exchange. ## Sources 1. [Hindustan Times: ED arrests man accused of routing betting scam money through shell firms](https://www.hindustantimes.com/cities/mumbai-news/ed-arrests-man-accused-of-routing-betting-scam-money-through-shell-firms-101793466444832.html) 2. [Inc42: ED arrests Armstrong Exchange founder over alleged online betting scam](https://inc42.com/buzz/ed-arrests-armstrong-exchange-founder-over-alleged-online-betting-scam/) 3. [Free Press Journal: ED arrests Armstrong Exchange founder Sagar Dash over alleged money laundering linked to All Panel Exchange betting](https://www.freepressjournal.in/mumbai/ed-arrests-armstrong-exchange-founder-sagar-dash-over-alleged-money-laundering-of-hundreds-of-crores-linked-to-all-panel-exchange-betting) 4. [Hindustan Times: ED raids 20 premises in online betting fraud probe](https://www.hindustantimes.com/cities/mumbai-news/ed-raids-20-premises-in-online-betting-fraud-probe-101792261668736.html) 5. [Free Press Journal: ED freezes assets worth over Rs 15 crore in APX betting probe](https://www.freepressjournal.in/mumbai/ed-freezes-assets-worth-over-15-crore-in-apx-betting-probe-identifies-182-cr-in-apmc-linked-withdrawals) Written by the bharat.digital desk from the sources above. Figures are as reported by those sources.