Bengaluru, February 18 – The Enforcement Directorate (ED), Bengaluru Zonal Office, has provisionally attached movable assets – the balance in foreign bank accounts maintained in the USA and Singapore, amounting to USD 55.69 million (₹505 crore), held in the names of overseas shell companies operated and controlled by Paavan Nanda and Saumya Singh Rathore, under the Public Money Laundering Act (PMLA), an official statement said on Wednesday.
The company is accused of using artificial or automated gaming profiles in real-money games, which may have unfairly impacted players and led to financial losses. To date, the total proceeds of crime attached/frozen in this case are around ₹1,194 crore.
The action has been taken against Winzo Pvt Ltd, which caused losses to users by applying BOT/AI/Algorithm profiles in online real-money games and generated proceeds of crime amounting to ₹3,522.05 crore, the ED stated.
The immovable properties and balance in foreign bank accounts were held in the names of M/s Winzo Pvt Ltd, namely M/s Winzo US Inc, USA & M/s Winzo SG Pvt Ltd, Singapore.
Earlier, the ED conducted search and seizure operations at the offices of Winzo Pvt Ltd, and the residences of its director on November 18, 2025, and its accounting firm on December 30, 2025. The evidence unearthed during the search and subsequent investigation revealed that the company was engaged in criminal activities and unscrupulous practices: customers were made to play with BOTs, AI, Algorithms, software termed as PPP/EP/Persona, without being made aware that they were playing with BOTs and not with humans in real money games.
Winzo also prevented and limited withdrawals of money held by customers in the Winzo Pvt Ltd wallets.
Winzo also generated proceeds of crime in the form of a "Rake Commission" from the matches played by BOTs with real players on their Winzo App. Furthermore, by using the BOTs in a restrictive environment for withdrawing funds, users were induced to play more and more matches.
Through repeated gameplay under these conditions, users' deposited amounts were progressively appropriated by the company in the form of a rake commission charged on each match.
The cumulative effect of this mechanism enabled the company to systematically convert users' deposits into revenue, i.e., a rake commission. In this manner, the company has derived proceeds of crime amounting to ₹3,522.05 crore, for the financial years 2021-22 to 2025-26, up to August 22, 2025.
So far, the ED has frozen movable and immovable properties amounting to ₹689 crore in this case. Furthermore, a portion of the direct proceeds of crime has been taken out of India to the USA and Singapore under the guise of overseas investments.
All operations and day-to-day business activities, including the operation of bank accounts, are carried out from India. However, the funds worth USD 55 million have been parked in their bank account in the USA and Singapore.
Further, a prosecution complaint has been filed before the Special Court of PMLA, Bengaluru, on January 23. To date, the total proceeds of crime attached and frozen in this case are around ₹1,194 crore.
Further investigation is underway.
