WinZo case: ED attaches Rs 500-crore bank deposits in US, Singapore

New Delhi, Feb 18 (PTI) The Enforcement Directorate on Wednesday said it has attached deposits worth more than Rs 500 crore in bank accounts of the US and Singapore as part of its money laundering investigation 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 (about Rs 505 crore) and are held in the names of overseas "shell" companies of Winzo Pvt Ltd, like Winzo US Inc and Winzo SG Pte Ltd, Singapore. They 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 about 25 crore, largely from tier-3 and tier-4 cities, the ED said earlier.

The Union government banned real-money gaming apps in India in August 2025.

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 made aware of the fact that they are not playing with humans in real-money games".

WinZo has also prevented and limited withdrawal of money held by the 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. PTI NES KVK KVK