ED arrests WinZO founders, freezes Rs 505 crore in money-laundering crackdown

The Enforcement Directorate has arrested winzo founders Saumya Singh Rathore and Paavan Nanda on money laundering charges, officials said Thursday.

Officials said they were arrested in Bengaluru on Wednesday after being questioned at the federal agency’s zonal office.

The two were brought before a local court in Bengaluru that night and sent to one-day custody. Officials said they will appear in court again for a detailed hearing.

On Monday, the ED said that the company was holding around ₹43 crore of gamers’ funds, which should have been refunded to players after India banned real-money gaming.

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Last week, the ED raided WinZO and Gamezkraft, another online gaming company, along with their promoters, under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).

The ED accused WinZO of “criminal activities and unfair practices,” saying customers were unknowingly playing against algorithms instead of real humans in real-money games. It also said WinZO was running real-money games in countries like Brazil, the US, and Germany using the same platform as the Indian entity.

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"Even after the ban of RMGs by the Union government (w.e.f. 22/08/2025), an amount of Rs 43 crore is still held by the company without refunding to the gamers/customers," the ED alleged.

The ED said bonds, fixed deposits, and mutual funds worth ₹505 crore held by WinZO Games have been frozen under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).

A WinZO spokesperson responded, said, “Fairness and transparency are core to how WinZO designs and operates its platform. Our focus remains on protecting our users and ensuring a secure, trustworthy experience,” and added that the company complies with all applicable laws.

The ED also said WinZO restricted customer withdrawals and allegedly generated illicit funds through bets lost by real users due to the use of algorithms/software. It claimed that WinZO’s global operations were run through a single app, meaning they were hosted on the India-based platform.

"It was also found that the funds by the Indian entity have been diverted to the US and Singapore under the garb of overseas investments.

"Funds worth USD 55 million (about Rs 489.90 crore) have been parked in their (WinZO) bank account in the US, which is a shell company since all the operations and day-to-day business activities and operation of bank accounts were done from India," the ED charged.  The agency made similar allegations against Gamezkraft. 

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