6 months ago
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The Directorate of Enforcement (ED) raided 3 online gaming companies successful Bengaluru, Delhi, and Gurugram betwixt November 18 and 22, and froze accounts with implicit ₹523 crore.
Following raids connected WinZO Games Pvt. Ltd. that operated real-money gaming services done the WinZO app, the ED froze ₹505 crore worthy of suspected proceeds of crime, including slope balances, bonds, fixed deposits, and communal funds, nether the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002.
The ED said that it recovered that the WinZO continued operating real-money games successful overseas markets specified arsenic the U.S., Brazil, and Germany, utilizing the aforesaid level arsenic India- adjacent aft the nationwide prohibition connected RMGs took effect connected August 22, 2025. The institution reportedly held ₹43 crore belonging to players without refunding.
The probe further revealed that the WinZO allowed customers to unknowingly play against machine algorithms alternatively than existent players, portion besides restricting withdrawals, the ED said. The ED alleges that the institution earned proceeds of transgression by exploiting users done these practices.
A probe has uncovered diversion of Indian funds to overseas entities. Around ₹489.90 crore was traced to a U.S. slope relationship operated nether the WinZO U.S. Inc., which officials described arsenic a ammunition institution controlled from India.
In different case, pursuing raids connected premises linked to Nirdesa Networks Pvt. Ltd. (NNPL), Gameskraft Technologies Pvt. Ltd. (GTPL), the ED froze 8 escrow slope accounts holding astir ₹18.57 crore, suspected to beryllium proceeds of crime.
The ED initiated the probe based connected an FIR filed by the Karnataka Police alleging large-scale fraud by the Pocket52, an online gaming level operated by the NNPL. The ailment accused the level of manipulating crippled outcomes, subordinate collusion, method glitches, restricting withdrawals, and suppressing transparency features similar manus history.
One complainant reported losing implicit ₹3 crore, claiming systematic cheating and irresponsible gaming practices.
During the PMLA investigation, the ED claimed to person recovered galore idiosyncratic complaints pointing to manipulation and exploitation by the platform. The officials seized mobile phones, laptops, and different physics devices from the directors and founders, on with voluminous information backups from the GTPL. Despite the prohibition connected real-money games nether the Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming (PROG) Act, 2025, enforced connected August 22, 2025, the institution reportedly retained implicit ₹30 crore successful escrow accounts without refunding players, the ED alleged.
