WinZO founders arrested in Bengaluru on money-laundering charges

Probe agency cites algorithm-based RMG, offshore shell claims and pending gamer refunds

November 27, 2025

ED alleges offshore shell and crypto diversion

The Enforcement Directorate arrested the founders of the online money-gaming platform WinZO — Saumya Singh Rathore and Paavan Nanda — in Bengaluru on Wednesday on money-laundering charges, officials said on Thursday.

After questioning them at the agency’s zonal office, the ED produced the two before a local court in Bengaluru the same night. The court sent them to one-day custody, pending a detailed order, officials added.

Earlier, the ED alleged that ₹43 crore of gamers’ funds were still held by the company without refunds, even after India’s real-money gaming ban. The agency claimed that customers were made to play algorithm-based real-money games without being informed they were competing against software rather than human players.

Under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), the ED froze assets worth ₹505 crore belonging to WinZO in the form of bonds, fixed deposits and mutual funds.

The agency also alleged that global operations were run through a single app hosted from India, and that offshore entities in the US and Singapore were used under the label of overseas investments. According to the investigators, ₹489.90 crore (USD 55 million) were parked in a US-based shell company, controlled operationally from India. They alleged that funds had been diverted to the US and Singapore through import-export documentation and crypto transfers, and that 118 mule accounts linked to the network had already been frozen in earlier raids.

Reacting to the charges, a WinZO spokesperson said in a statement, “Fairness and transparency are core to how WinZO designs and operates its platform.” The company asserted that it remained compliant with all applicable Indian laws and that its focus continued to remain on safety and user trust.

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