New Delhi, February 18 The Enforcement Directorate said on Wednesday that it has attached bank deposits worth more than Rs 500 crore in accounts held by US and Singapore-based entities as part of its investigation into money laundering against real-money online gaming app WinZO and its promoters.
The agency said in a statement that a provisional order was issued under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) to attach these movable assets.
These deposits amount to USD 55.69 million (approximately Rs 505 crore) and are held in the names of overseas "shell" companies of Winzo Pvt Ltd, such as Winzo US Inc and Winzo SG Pte Ltd, in Singapore. These companies were operated and controlled by promoters Paavan Nanda and Saumya Singh Rathore, it said.
WinZO, through its mobile application, offered more than 100 games with a claimed user base of approximately 25 crore, largely from tier-3 and tier-4 cities, the ED said earlier.
The Union government has banned real-money gaming apps in India.
The agency alleged that the company was "engaged in criminal activities and unscrupulous practices, as customers were made to play with bots, AI, algorithms, and software named 'PPP, EP and Persona' without being informed that they were not playing with humans in real-money games".
WinZO has also prevented and limited the withdrawal of money held by customers in its wallets, it claimed.
The ED has filed a chargesheet in this case before a special PMLA court in Bengaluru, and with the latest order, the total attachment in the case stands at Rs 1,194 crore.
