ED chargesheets online gaming app WinZO, alleges players duped of Rs 734 cr
The Enforcement Directorate on Sunday said it has chargesheeted real-money online gaming app WinZO and its promoters, alleging that players lost Rs 734 crore on the platform as the company “embedded” bots and AI to “manipulate” the game’s algorithms.
According to an official statement, the ED’s Bengaluru zonal office filed the prosecution complaint on January 23 before a local court designated to try cases under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).
The company, Winzo Pvt Ltd, its directors, “Paavan Nanda and Saumya Singh Rathore,” and its wholly-owned subsidiaries, including those based abroad, like Winzo US Inc., USA, Winzo SG Pte. Ltd and ZO Pvt Ltd. have been named as accused in the chargesheet.
WinZO, through its mobile application, offered more than 100 games with a claimed user base of about 25 crore users, largely from tier-3 and tier-4 cities, the ED said.
The Union Government banned real-money gaming apps in India in August 2025.
“For providing these RMG (real money gaming) services, the company charged a percentage of the betting amounts from the users, as commission. The company also assured its users that its gaming platform was free from any BOTs (bots which are computer-controlled characters), was transparent and secure,” the central agency added.
However, it claimed, the probe found that most RMGs were manipulated.
