Roblox, one of the most beloved children’s gaming platforms, is now facing a possible money laundering issue. According to the latest court filing, more than 300 users are said to be laundering money and purchasing fake in-game items with in-game currency.
In 2020, Roblox, a popular online gaming platform, was reportedly used by criminals to launder money. The scheme involved purchasing virtual currency within Roblox, and then reselling it at a discount to other users. The profits from the sales were then transferred to real-world bank accounts, effectively cleaning the funds of their criminal origin.
This particular proposal was submitted to a San Francisco federal court on March 28.
Interestingly, the findings have shocked the entire gaming community. What is happening in the Roblox money laundering controversy?
Roblox Money Laundering Scandal Overview
The possible Roblox money laundering scandal has left many fans feeling dejected and confused. The case arises from a Class-action lawsuit filed nearly two years ago. Considerably, the case alleged that Roblox arbitrarily removed all in-game items from gamers after they were sold.
Moreover, the settlement document shows that some of the users will not get a piece of the $7.5 million payout. That is because 311 accounts spent more than $1,000 on suspicious in-game transactions. Eventually, the use of in-game currency to launder money has been a long-standing issue in the gaming world, with stolen credit cards used to purchase virtual cash and sell it at discounted rates.
Edelson PC, a Chicago-based law firm, filed a 2021 suit against Roblox on behalf of an anonymous under-18 girl who purchased in-game items from another user. Roblox is said to have deleted the items arbitrarily, taking a 30% cut of the deal every time.
The settlement needs court approval, but Roblox has already agreed to pay affected users $7.5 million. Nevertheless, the proposed settlement makes some of the Roblox users ineligible to get any money because of their ‘suspicious’ behavior. The court is now expected to approve this deal in the coming months.
Roblox’s Response To These Allegations
Roblox disagrees with the allegations of money laundering, based on their spokesperson William Nevius. He insisted that the firm will file a short response in the coming days. The gaming platform has various measures set in place to prevent money laundering, which is not the issue in the current lawsuit against the company.
So, what is happening?
Roblox lets users sell Robux, which is the virtual currency used in the online gaming platform, back to the firm whenever they reach 30,000. Nevertheless, there is a Secondary market for selling and buying Robux, and that can result in potential scams. Other blockchain games like Fortnite have also reported cases of similar scams.
Eventually, Roblox insisted that it had taken into account all laws and regulations related to money laundering when structuring the firm.
