On September 27, 2022, UAE-based newspaper the Khaleej Times published sponsored article titled ‘MaziMatic: A metaverse dedicated to entertainment and games’ which is written by one Faiz Qureshi, who claims to be a “Bollywood Producer”. First two paragraphs of this sponsored post said:
Technology has evolved radically in the last few years. As the world is progressing, Web 3.0 is taking over every industry with cryptocurrency playing a crucial role in varied fields like finance, art and real estate. No wonder, metaverse, NFTs and crypto tokens are different entities which are contributing to the growth of others. Among all these, online gaming have become a centre of attraction with MaziMatic being one of the most talked about works in the digital space.
MaziMatic is the world’s first multi-entertainment mixed reality metaverse which is powered by the MaziMatic token. Intending to offer advanced gaming and entertainment, the project has NFT collections and different virtual worlds for endless entertainment like Casinoverse, Partyverse, Adventureverse, Influencerverse, and Tradingfloor. Backed by top-notch experts from the blockchain and fintech industry, MaziMatic promises to offer a one-of-a-kind virtual lifestyle for players.
According to our information, an individual named Navin Kejriwal is running this show. His company ‘MaziMagic’ at the first step is going to launch a casino in metaverse and then in the second step Navin Kejriwal introduces “Partyverse” which will be followed by a third phase.
The initial investment for public is US$2,500, US$7,000 and US$ 10,000. Anyone willing to join the online casino of Navin Kejriwal has to buy any of these packages. In exchange of investment is cash, what is also called fiat currency, Navin Kejriwal and his gang are offering their own cryptocurrency. Anyone buying ‘MaziMatic token’ from the company of Navin Kejriwal, which is actually a cryptocurrency, shall not be able to sell it minimum for one year.
This newspaper sent an email to Navin Kejriwal and his ‘MaziMatic’ on September 27, 2022 seeking their answer as to how they are launching online casino business in the United Arab Emirates, as Islam is the official religion of the country, pursuant to the Constitution of the UAE.
Islam is the official religion of the country, pursuant to the Constitution of the UAE. As gambling is prohibited in Islam, this forms the basis for the federal and local emirate laws that prohibit all forms of gambling, as well as the advertising of any form of gaming.
Meaning, that for any Emirati newspaper running a sponsored or paid promotional post in favor of anyone running gambling, gaming, or betting site is tantamount to legal consequences. But the unfortunate fact is, that Khaleej Times has violated Emirati laws by publishing sponsored article promoting ‘MaziMagic’ online casino.
Read: Chechen man runs online casino business in Dubai
According to website of ‘MaziMagic’ this company does not have any physical address in Dubai or anywhere in the United Arab Emirates. In addition to Navin Kejriwal, other individuals involved with this illegal online casino racket are: Karan Bhandari (CEO and co-founder), Prince Sehgal alias Prince Shegal Aman (COO and co-founder), MKay (although introduced as CFO and co-founder, this name seems to be fake), Devanshu Joshi (CTO and co-founder), Prasoon Agarwal (CSO), Saket Joshi (Marketing advisor and co-founder), Vineet Miskin (CMO and co-founder), Uddalak Das (Social Media Strategist) and Ameen Ahmed (Strategic partner).
On his Twitter handle, MaziMagic member Karan Bhandari’s name appears as Karnn Bhandari
Navin Kejriwal is the Strategic Advisor and co-founder of ‘MaziMagic’. According to Twitter handle of Navin Kejriwal, he is introduced as:
“Co-Founder MaziMatic #Web3 #Metaverse Investor – (Crypto/Stock Markets/Startups) #Blockchain #Stockmarkets #Startups #NFT Director GrabUrDeal”.
On his LinkedIn profile, Navin Kejriwal claims his company ‘MaziMagic’ been registered in Hong Kong SAR.
On July 29, 2022, Karnn Bhandari aka Karan Bhandari in his tweet said:
“How many of you have seen the Trailer of 1 out of the 5 metaverses, #CasinoVerse We will be releasing the first raw footage of the metaverse gameplay in a couple of days after a super super huge #announcement”.
From the CasinoVerse tweet, it is clearly proved that MaziMagic plans to start an illegal online casino in the United Arab Emirates. It said:
“Mazimatic is the next best everything multiverse project in Defi ever !!! #casinoverse #partyverse #multiverse #adventureverse #influencerverse #PTE”.
It is further learnt, in addition to running illegal online casino, MaziMagic is also going to offer escort girls and “girl-friend on rental” service to the UAE residents.
It may be mentioned here that, Islam is the official religion of the country, pursuant to the Constitution of the UAE. As gambling is prohibited in Islam, this forms the basis for the federal and local emirate laws that prohibit all forms of gambling, as well as the advertising of any form of gaming.
Meaning, that for any Emirati newspaper running a sponsored or paid promotional post in favor of anyone running gambling, gaming, or betting site is tantamount to legal consequences. But the unfortunate fact is, UAE newspapers such as Khaleej Times, Gulf News, Arabian Business etcetera are continuously violating laws by publishing promotional contents of casinos.
