Rocking Game Industry, Roblox Accused Of Being Involved In Money Laundering Scandal

Illustration of the Roblox Game. (Photo; Doc. The Game Haus)

JAKARTA - Roblox, a popular gaming platform for popular children, is facing serious problems related to alleged money laundering. A new report filed with San Francisco federal court on Tuesday, March 28, stated that more than 300 users were suspected of laundering money by buying counterfeit items in a game using the currency in a game. This finding certainly shocked the gamer community. However, what really happened?

The alleged money laundering case in Roblox has confused fans. Initially, this case came from a class lawsuit filed almost two years ago. The lawsuit claims that Roblox arbitrarily deleted items in the game from the player after the item was sold.

The case settlement document also reveals that some users will not receive part of the payment of 7.5 million US dollars (Rp112 billion). This is because 311 accounts have spent more than US$1,000 (Rp15 million) on suspicious in-game transactions.

The use of currencies in games to launder money has actually been an old problem for the gamer community, with stolen credit cards used to buy virtual money and sell them at discount prices.

According to an NFT Evening report, Chicago law firm Edelson PC filed a lawsuit in 2021 against Roblox on behalf of a girl under 18 who bought in-game items from other players. Roblox allegedly deleted the items arbitrarily, taking 30 percent of each transaction.

The settlement of this case requires court approval, but Roblox has agreed to pay the affected user Rp112 billion. However, the settlement proposal leaves some Roblox users unqualified for receiving money as their behavior is considered suspicious. The court is expected to agree to the deal in the coming months.

William Nevius, spokesman for Roblox, denies money laundering charges. He said the company would immediately file a written answer to the lawsuit. However, this gaming platform already has adequate money laundering precautions. However, the problems that arise in this case are not related to that.

Roblox allows users to sell Robux (the virtual currency used in the Roblox online gaming platform) back to the company when it reaches 30,000. However, there is a secondary market to buy and sell Robux, and this could lead to fraud.

Other games such as Fortnite have also reported similar frauds. Overall, Roblox claims to have paid attention to the law regarding money laundering while building the company's structure.