The Enforcement Directorate (ED), Bengaluru Zonal Office, has provisionally frozen movable assets worth USD 55.69 million (approximately ₹ 505 million) held in foreign bank accounts in the United States and Singapore, allegedly held in the names of overseas shell companies Winzo Pvt Ltd. Rathore.
Earlier, the ED conducted searches and seizures at the office premises of Winzo Pvt Ltd. and at its director’s office on November 18, 2025 and at its accounting firm on December 30, 2025.
According to the ED, evidence collected during the searches and subsequent investigation revealed that the company was allegedly engaged in criminal and unscrupulous practices. ED alleges that customers were forced to participate in real money games against BOTs/algorithms/AI-driven software (referred to as PPP/EP/Persona) without being informed that they were playing against automated systems rather than human players.
The investigation further revealed that the company restricted or restricted withdrawals of funds stored in customer wallets, thereby inducing users to continue playing. By repeatedly playing under such conditions, users’ deposits were allegedly appropriated in the form of “rake commissions” charged for each match.
The ED said that Winzo Pvt Ltd. generated “proceeds of crime” in the form of rake commissions from matches played between BOTs and real players on the Winzo app. For the financial years 2021–22 to 2025–26 (up to 22 August 2025), the agency pegged the alleged proceeds of crime at ₹3,522.05 crore.
So far, the ED has frozen movable assets worth around ₹ 689 crore in the case. The agency further alleged that some of the direct proceeds of crime were transferred outside India to the US and Singapore under the guise of overseas investments, even though operational control and day-to-day business activities were conducted from India.
With the latest provisional attachment of US$55.69 million, the total proceeds of crime seized or frozen in the case now stands at around ₹1,194 million.
Published – 18 Feb 2026 21:16 IST