ED Freezes ₹505 Cr Held Abroad In WinZO Money-Laundering Case

Adding another layer to the ongoing regulatory scrutiny around gaming startup WinZO, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) has provisionally attached ₹505 Cr ($55.7 Mn) held by the startup in foreign bank accounts in the US and Singapore. The attachment is a part of the ED’s ongoing money-laundering investigation into the online gaming platform.

The funds were parked in accounts operated through overseas shell entities, Winzo US Inc and Winzo SG Pte Ltd in Singapore, which were controlled from India by WinZO’s cofounders Paavan Nanda and Saumya Singh Rathore, according to an ED statement.

The ED said it had earlier conducted search and seizure operations at WinZO’s office premises and at the residence of one of its directors in November 2025, followed by raids at its accounting firm in December.

According to the agency, evidence gathered during the investigation indicates that the startup allegedly used bots and algorithm-driven personas to play against real users in paid games, without disclosing this to customers. The ED also alleged that the company restricted or delayed withdrawals from user wallets, inducing players to continue gaming.

It is pertinent to note that the ED had filed a prosecution complaint alleging large-scale manipulation of games and laundering of proceeds of crime by WinZO a few weeks back. According to the agency, WinZO had allegedly been lured with small bonuses and early wins, before being systematically pitted against harder bots, resulting in heavy losses.

Back then, the ED had estimated that genuine users lost around ₹734 Cr to such bot-driven gameplay. With the latest action, the total value of assets attached or frozen in the case stands at about ₹1,194 Cr, the ED said.

Investigators allege that WinZO generated illicit gains through “rake commissions” charged on matches played between bots and human users. By combining automated gameplay with withdrawal limitations, the agency said, customer deposits were systematically converted into company revenue.

The ED estimates that Winzo derived proceeds of crime totalling ₹3,522.05 Cr between FY22 and FY26 (up to August 22, 2025).

So far, the agency has frozen or attached movable assets worth approximately ₹689 Cr, including the overseas balances. It added that a portion of the alleged proceeds was transferred abroad under the guise of foreign investments, even though operational control of the accounts remained in India.

This saga started when the ED arrested WinZO cofounders under provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) in November 2025.

The agency conducted search operations at four locations in Delhi and Gurugram between November 18 and November 22, 2025. The searches were carried out by the ED’s Bengaluru zonal office and targeted premises linked to the startup.

According to the ED, the probe was triggered by multiple FIRs filed against WinZO Games and related entities, alleging cheating, impersonation, misuse of permanent account numbers, wrongful blocking of user accounts, and the unauthorised use of customer KYC data. The complaints also claimed that users incurred financial losses due to fraudulent activity on the platform.

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