We all know that it is the responsibility of Chief Finance Officer to make the company financially strong. But what will happen if CFO is involved in financial fraud of the company. That is what happened in Gameskraft, a Bangaluru-based gaming technology firm.
Gameskraft Technologies lodged an FIR against their Chief Finance Officer Ramesh Prabhu in September 2025 on charges of unauthorised diversion of funds, fake accounts and disappearance of the company's head of finance.
What transpired and how?
Ramesh Prabhu, joined the organization in 2019 as Chief Financial Officer. Since he was the CFO of the company, he possessed all the information of the financial reports of the company. From 2019-20 to 2024-25, he did unauthorised transactions, where he used to transfer funds of the company to his personal RBL Bank account. According to the reports, Ramesh Prabhu transferred around ₹231 crore into his account.
Rather than applying this money to company's use, Ramesh Prabhu utilized this money for his own Futures and Options trading. Unfortunately, he was not able to be successful as a trader.
And to cover up his diversions, Prabhu created bank and mutual fund statements fraudulent entries in the company's books, labeling the amounts as valid corporate investments.
According to the FIR filed at the police station, Gameskraft's had to account for ₹270 crore as a write-off on their books.
How it came into notice?
From March 2025 month onwards, Ramesh Prabhu didn't report to the office. He was untraceable. He wrote to the company regarding his financial fraud on 5th March 2025 and took the entire responsibility for this fraud.
On 9th September, an FIR was lodged against Gameskraft Technologies' Ramesh Prabhu regarding this scam in Bengaluru's Marathahalli police.
Prabhu has been charged under sections 316(4) (criminal breach of trust by employee), 318 (4) (cheating and dishonestly inducing delivery of property), 335 (forging a false document), 344 (falsification of documents), and 336 (2) (forgery) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS).
Corporate failure
The scandal particularly indicates the large gaps within the internal controlling and risk management within India's gaming and tech industry. Even with excessive monitoring by the government, individuals such as Ramesh Prabhu are able to commit massive financial fraud.
This raises a huge issue regarding inadequate regulation of authorities such as lack of independent audit and inadequate segregation of duties.
We don't know, how many frauds are currently being committed and how such frauds can be checked.
The way forward
Gameskraft has stated that they will cooperate fully with the law enforcement and regulatory bodies for recovery of funds.
As the Gameskraft drama plays out, it is a reminder for the Indian startup economy, financial discipline and transparency.
