The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has arrested the founders of online gaming platform WinZO — Saumya Singh Rathore and Paavan Nanda — on charges of money laundering, officials said on Thursday.
They were arrested on Wednesday in Bengaluru after their interrogation at the zonal office of the federal investigation agency, they said.
The two were produced before a local court in Bengaluru the same night and the court remanded them to one-day custody. They are expected to be brought before the court again for a detailed order, according to officials.
Read also | ₹2,400 bet scam: Delhi HC says ED can attach assets linked to fakes
On Monday, the ED said in a statement that funds to the tune of ₹The company was “holding” 43 million players and this money should ideally be returned to players after India banned real money gaming.
The ED last week raided the premises of WinZO and Gamezkraft, another online gaming company, and their promoters under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).
The ED accused WinZO of “engaging in criminal activities and unscrupulous practices as customers were forced to play with algorithms without being aware of the fact that they were playing with software and not with people in real money games.”
Read also | ED attacks WinZO, Gamezkraft after complaints of ‘rigged algorithms’
It said that WinZO operates Real Money Games (RMG) in countries like Brazil, USA and Germany from India (on the same platform used by the Indian entity).
“Even after the ban on RMG by the Union Government (wef 22/08/2025), the quantity is ₹43 crore is still held by the company without refund to the players/customers,” the ED said.
He stated that the value of bonds, fixed deposits and mutual funds ₹505 million “owned” by WinZO Games has been frozen under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).
In response to the allegations, a WinZO spokesperson said in a statement: “Fairness and transparency are fundamental to how WinZO designs and operates its platform.”
“Our focus remains on protecting our users and ensuring a safe and trusted experience,” WinZO said, adding that it remains in full compliance with all applicable laws.
WinZO, the ED said, also prevented or restricted withdrawals of money held by customers in wallets and generated alleged illicit funds in the form of bets placed and lost by genuine customers through “reckless” use of algorithms/software.
Read also | ED has attached assets worth ₹1,452 crore in the Reliance Communications money laundering case
The agency claimed to have found that WinZO’s global operations were conducted through a single application, meaning they were hosted on an India-based platform.
“It was also found that the funds of the Indian entity were diverted to the US and Singapore under the guise of overseas investments.
“Funds worth US$55 million (approx ₹489.90 crore) was parked in their bank account (WinZO) in the US, which is a shell company as all operations and day-to-day business activities and operation of bank accounts were done from India,” the ED said.
