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ED raids four WinZO places, freezes Rs 505 cr deposits

BENGALURU: The Directorate of Enforcement (ED) searched four locations in Delhi and Gurgaon from November 18 to 22 in the WinZO games app case under the provisions of the PMLA, 2002. WinZO Games Pvt. Ltd., is into online real money gaming services through its app, WinZO. Proceeds of crime (POC) possessed by WinZO Games Pvt. Ltd., amounting to around Rs 505 crore in the form of bank balances, bonds, FDRs, and mutual funds were frozen. Earlier, ED initiated its investigation on the basis of FIRs filed against WinZO Games Pvt. Ltd., and others for cheating, blocking accounts, impersonation and misuse of PAN. According to the FIRs, the complainants KYC was misused by WinZO and others. The complainants suffered losses because of fraudulent activities and cheating by WinZO and others. The investigation revealed that WinZO runs Real Money Games (RMGs) in countries such as the US, Brazil, and Germany from India (on the same platform used by the Indian entity). Even after the ban of RMGs by the Union Government (from 22/08/2025), the company held Rs 43 crore without refunding it to gamers/customers, according to a press release. The investigation revealed that WinZO Pvt Ltd., engaged in criminal activities and unscrupulous practices. Customers were made to play with algorithms/software without being made aware of the fact that they were not playing with humans in real money games. WinZO prevented/limited withdrawals of money held by customers in the wallets of M/s WinZOPvt Ltd. M/s WinZO Pvt. Ltd., also generated POC in the form of bets placed and lost by real customers through unscrupulous use of such algorithms/software which were received by the entity in its bank accounts. It was found that funds by the Indian entity were diverted to the US and Singapore in the guise of overseas investments.