NEW DELHI, Feb 18 : The Enforcement Directorate (ED), Bengaluru Zonal Office, on Wednesday said it has attached movable properties and seized bank accounts maintained in the US and Singapore, amounting to USD 55.69 million (approximately Rs 505 crore), held in the names of overseas shell companies of Winzo Pvt. Ltd., namely Winzo US Inc. and Winzo SG Pte. Ltd. and allegedly operated and controlled by Paavan Nanda and Saumya Singh Rathore.
Earlier, the ED conducted search and seizure operations at the office premises of Winzo Pvt Ltd, as well as at the residential premises of its Director and its accounting firm.
Evidence unearthed during the searches and subsequent investigation revealed that the company was allegedly engaged in criminal activities and unscrupulous practices. Customers were allegedly made to play against BOTs/AI/algorithms/software (termed as PPP/EP/Persona) without being informed that they were competing against automated systems rather than human players in real-money games.
Winzo also allegedly restricted or limited withdrawals of money held by customers in their wallets on the platform.
The company reportedly generated proceeds of crime in the form of “rake commission” from matches played by BOTs against real players on the Winzo app.
Further, by deploying BOTs and creating a restrictive withdrawal environment, users were allegedly induced to play more matches. Through repeated gameplay under these conditions, users’ deposited amounts were progressively appropriated by the company in the form of rake commissions charged on each match.
The cumulative effect of this mechanism allegedly enabled the company to systematically convert users’ deposits into revenue in the form of rake commission. In this manner, the company is alleged to have derived total proceeds of crime amounting to Rs 3,522.05 crore during the financial years 2021-22 to 2025-26 (till August 22, 2025).
So far, the ED has frozen movable properties worth approximately Rs 689 crore in this case. A portion of the direct proceeds of crime was allegedly transferred out of India to the USA and Singapore under the guise of overseas investments. While all operations and day-to-day business activities, including the operation of bank accounts, were carried out from India, funds worth about USD 55 million were allegedly parked in bank accounts in the USA and Singapore.
A chargesheet has also been filed in the matter.
To date, the total proceeds of crime attached or frozen in the case amount to approximately Rs 1,194 crore.
Further investigation is ongoing.
(UNI)
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