Online Gaming Fraud: The Bengaluru Zonal Office of the Enforcement Directorate (ED) conducted a raid on December 30 at the office of an accounting firm linked to online real money gaming platform WinZO Private Limited under Section 17 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002.
WinZO Private Limited provides online real money gaming services through its app “WinZO.” During the search, the ED froze proceeds of crime (PoC) amounting to approximately ₹192 crore associated with M/s WinZO Games Private Limited in the form of bank balances, fixed deposit receipts (FDRs), and mutual funds under Section 17(1A) of the PMLA. WinZO Games Private Limited is a wholly owned Indian subsidiary of WinZO Private Limited.
Earlier, on November 18, the ED had also carried out search and seizure operations at the office of WinZO Private Limited and the residence of its director. Evidence gathered during the searches and subsequent investigation indicates that the company was allegedly involved in criminal activities and fraudulent practices.
According to the investigation, users on the WinZO app were allegedly made to play real money games against BOTs, AI, algorithms, and software (referred to as PPP, EP, and Persona) without their knowledge, creating the false impression that they were competing against real players. The company also allegedly imposed restrictions or outright bans on withdrawals from users’ wallets.
The ED probe further revealed that WinZO generated proceeds of crime in the form of “rake commission” from matches played by real users against BOTs. Between May 2024 and August 2025, around ₹177 crore was earned through BOTs, while approximately ₹557 crore was generated during the period from April 2022 to December 2023. Additionally, even after restrictions were imposed by the Central Government on real money games, the company reportedly retained about ₹43 crore belonging to users.
So far, the investigation has found that M/s WinZO Private Limited generated total proceeds of crime amounting to approximately ₹802 crore.
The ED has also found that a portion of the proceeds of crime was siphoned off from India to the United States and Singapore in the guise of foreign investment. About USD 54 million was transferred to a bank account in the US in the name of “WinZO US Inc.” According to the ED, this entity is a shell company, as all its operations, day-to-day business activities, and bank account operations are being controlled from India.
