Mumbai, Jan 01: The Enforcement Directorate (ED), Bengaluru Zonal unit, on Tuesday conducted a search operation at the office premises of the accounting firm for M/s Winzo Pvt. Ltd., a company operating
online real-money gaming services through its app WinZO, under Section 17 of the Prevention of Money-Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002.The action comes as part of an ongoing probe into the company’s alleged involvement in money-laundering and irregularities in online real-money gaming operations. The central Agency said on Thursday.
During the search, the ED froze proceeds of crime (POC) worth around Rs 192 crore belonging to M/s ZO Games Pvt. Ltd., a fully-owned Indian subsidiary of Winzo. The seized assets include bank balances, fixed deposits, and mutual funds, in accordance with Section 17(1A) of the PMLA.
The current ED action follows an earlier search at WinZO’s offices and the residential premises of its director on November 18, 2025. Evidence collected during that operation indicated that the company allegedly engaged in criminal practices, including manipulating the outcomes of real money games. Officials said WinZO reportedly made customers play against BOTs, AI, or proprietary algorithms, or software termed (PPP/EP/Persona) without informing users that they were not competing against real players. In addition, the company allegedly restricted and limited withdrawals from users wallets.
According to an ED official statement, M/s WinZO Pvt. Ltd. allegedly generated proceeds of crime totaling around Rs 802 crore through illegal operations on its WinZO app. The funds were reportedly earned in the form of “Rake Commission” from matches played between BOTs and real players. ED officials estimate that the company earned around Rs 177 crore between May 2024 and August 2025, and approximately Rs 557 crore between April 2022 and December 2023. In addition, the company allegedly continued to hold Rs 43 crore of users’ funds even after the Union Government banned real-money gaming.
The financial probe agency further alleged that a portion of these funds was reportedly transferred abroad under the guise of investments. Approximately USD 54 million is said to have been parked in a U.S. bank account held in the name of “WINZO US Inc.”, a shell company, while all operations and account management remained in India. Officials also alleged that similar arrangements were used to route funds to Singapore.
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ED officials confirmed that further investigations are underway to trace the flow of these funds, identify additional assets, and determine beneficiaries involved in the transactions. The agency has indicated that additional actions, including potential attachment of overseas assets, are being considered as part of the ongoing probe.
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