The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has now filed a prosecution complaint against the gaming startup, its directors, and Indian and foreign subsidiaries, alleging large-scale manipulation of games and laundering of proceeds of crime

Users were allegedly lured with small bonuses and early wins, before being systematically pitted against harder bots, resulting in heavy losses

The ED estimates that genuine users lost around INR 734 Cr to such bot-driven gameplay

In further troubles for winzothe Enforcement Directorate (ED) has now filed a prosecution complaint against the gaming startup, its directors, and Indian and foreign subsidiaries, alleging large-scale manipulation of games and laundering of proceeds of crime.

In a statement, the ED said its Bengaluru zonal office filed the complaint on January 23 before the Special PMLA Court in Bengaluru. WinZO has been arraigned as the main accused along with its directors, Paavan Nanda and Saumya Singh Rathore, and its wholly owned subsidiaries, including entities based in the US and Singapore.

According to the agency, its investigation revealed that most of WinZO’s real money games were manipulated using bots and AI-driven profiles. Users were allegedly lured with small bonuses and early wins, before being systematically pitted against harder bots, resulting in heavy losses. The ED estimates that genuine users lost around INR 734 Cr to such bot-driven gameplay.

The probe was initiated on the basis of multiple FIRs registered by police authorities in Karnataka, Rajasthan, Delhi, and Gurugram for alleged cheating. Subsequently, during search operations carried out in November and December 2025, the ED froze WinZO’s assets worth approximately INR 690 Cr, which it identified as proceeds of crime. The frozen assets included bank balances, bonds, fixed deposits and mutual fund investments.

The agency further alleged that WinZO failed to return legitimate user winnings and deposits worth INR 47.66 Cr and generated proceeds of crime amounting to INR 3,522.05 Cr between FY22 and FY26. A part of these funds, INR 230 Cr to be precise, were also allegedly routed through shell companies overseas under the guise of foreign investment.

The unravelling of WinZO began shortly after the Centre imposed a blanket ban on real money gaming (RMG). As per the ED, the startup’s RMG offerings spanned across more than 100 games and had a user base of over 25 Cr, primarily from tier III & IV cities. The startup earned commission as a percentage of the amount being deposited by the RMG players. While WinZO claimed that the games were bot-free, the ED alleged that most of its games were manipulated.

Although the blanket ban effectively put an end to its India operations, WinZO continued to operate these services in overseas markets, including Brazil, the US and Germany from India via the same platform deployed for its domestic operations.

Within India, it expanded into adjacent categories, rolling out short-video product ZO TV and experimenting with offerings such as digital gold to find a footing amid the regulatory upheaval.

It is pertinent to mention that WinZO cofounders – Rathore and Nanda – were arrested by the ED in Bengaluru on money laundering charges under the PMLA following raids and asset seizures.

A court initially extended their ED custody for interrogation after the arrests. Following that, Rathore was granted bail while Nanda’s bail plea was rejected.