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WinZo Games parked $54 million in US shell company: ED
The Enforcement Directorate froze Proceeds of Crime worth Rs 192 crore in the form of bank balances, fixed deposit receipts, and mutual funds after raiding a WinZo subsidiary on Tuesday.
On November 18, ED conducted searches on WinZo and the residences of the company director. (File Photo)
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) Thursday said WinZo Games Pvt Ltd has parked $54 million (around Rs 485 crore) in a shell company in the US.
The investigating agency stated that on Tuesday it conducted a raid at the office of M/s ZO Games Pvt Ltd, a fully owned Indian subsidiary of M/s WinZo Pvt Ltd, and froze Proceeds of Crime (PoCs) worth Rs 192 crore in the form of bank balances, fixed deposit receipts, and mutual funds.
“The company was in possession of users’ monies amounting to Rs 43 Crore, even after the ban of Real Money Games by the Union Government. So far, the investigation revealed that M/s WinZo Pvt Ltd, has generated POC, around Rs 802 Crore. Further, a part of the POC has been taken out of India to USA and Singapore under the garb of overseas investments,” the ED said, releasing a statement.
On November 18, ED conducted searches on WinZo and the residences of the company director. The investigating agency claimed that the searches revealed the company was engaged in “criminal activities and unscrupulous practices”.
The ED said customers were made to play with BOTs/ AI/ Algorithms/ software in the guise of playing against humans in real money games. WinZo also reportedly prevented and limited withdrawals of funds held by customers in its wallets.
ED pointed out that WinZo generated POC from the matches played by BOTs with real players on their WinZo App. “In this manner, the company has made winnings of around Rs 177 Crore from the BOTs, for the period May 2024 to August 2025 and Rs 557 Crore (approx), for the period Apr 2022 to Dec 2023,” it added.
The investigation into the scam was initiated following the Karnataka Police’s FIR alleging large-scale fraud involving manipulated game outcomes, player collusion, technical glitches, and withdrawal restrictions. One victim alone reported losing over Rs 3 crore due to ‘systemic cheating’.
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In November, WinZo founders Saumya Singh Rathore and Paavan Nanda were arrested on charges of money laundering.
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