ED arrests gaming platform WinZO’s founder duo on cash laundering fees

The Enforcement Directorate has arrested on-line cash gaming platform WinZO founders – Saumya Singh Rathore and Paavan Nanda – on cash laundering fees, officers stated on Thursday (November 27, 2025).

They had been arrested in Bengaluru on Wednesday following their questioning on the zonal workplace of the federal probe company, they stated.

The two had been produced earlier than an area court docket in Bengaluru the identical night time, and had been despatched to one-day custody by the court docket. They are anticipated to be produced once more earlier than the court docket for an in depth order, as per officers.

On Monday, the ED, in an announcement, alleged that funds to the tune of ₹43 crore of avid gamers had been “held” by the corporate and that this cash ought to ideally have been refunded to gamers after India banned real-money gaming.

The ED had raided the premises of WinZO and Gamezkraft, one other firm providing on-line gaming, and their promoters final week below the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).

The ED had accused WinZO of “engaging in criminal activities and unscrupulous practices as customers were made to play with algorithms without being made aware of the fact that they are playing with the software and not with humans in real-money games.” It stated WinZO was working real-money video games (RMGs) in international locations corresponding to Brazil, the U.S., and Germany, from India (on the identical platform utilized by the Indian entity).

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

It stated bonds, mounted deposits, and mutual funds value ₹505 crore “possessed” by WinZO Games, had been frozen below the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).  Reacting to those fees, a spokesperson for WinZO, in an announcement, stated, “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,” WinZO stated, including that it stays totally compliant with all relevant legal guidelines.

WinZO, the ED stated, additionally prevented or restricted withdrawals of cash held by the purchasers within the wallets and generated alleged illicit funds within the type of wager quantities positioned and misplaced by actual clients by way of the “unscrupulous” use of algorithms/software program.

The company claimed to have discovered that WinZO’s world operations had been undertaken by way of a single app, that means they had been hosted on the India-based platform.

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

“Funds value $55 million (about ₹489.90 crore) have been parked of their (WinZO) checking account within the U.S., which is a shell firm since all of the operations and day-to-day enterprise actions and operation of financial institution accounts had been performed from India,” the ED charged. The agency made similar allegations against Gamezkraft.