Overview
- The ED said it searched WinZO’s accounting firm on December 30 under the PMLA and froze about ₹192 crore held by subsidiary ZO Games in bank balances, fixed deposits and mutual funds.
- This action follows November operations that froze roughly ₹505 crore and led to the arrests of co-founders Saumya Singh Rathore and Paavan Nanda, with a court granting bail to Rathore and denying it to Nanda.
- According to the agency, WinZO ran real‑money games against undisclosed bots and AI tools internally called PPP, EP and Persona and generated rake commissions from those matches.
- The ED alleges the platform restricted withdrawals and retained users’ money, including about ₹43 crore after the Union government’s late‑2024 ban on real‑money gaming.
- Authorities say part of the proceeds was moved overseas to the U.S. and Singapore, with about $54 million parked in the name of WINZO US Inc., as the probe and asset tracing continue.