ED Files ₹3,522 Crore Chargesheet Against Winzo

India’s Enforcement Directorate (ED) has filed a prosecution complaint against Winzo Pvt. Ltd., alleging that the real-money gaming (RMG) platform siphoned off ₹3,522.05 crore (~$384 million USD) in proceeds of crime between financial year (FY) 2021-22 and FY 2025-26. The chargesheet was filed on Jan 23, 2026, before a special court under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act in Bengaluru, naming Winzo, its directors Paavan Nanda and Saumya Singh Rathore, and its Indian and overseas subsidiaries in a case with wider implications for the Indian gaming industry.

The probe originated from several cheating-related FIRs filed by the Bengaluru CEN Police Station, along with police authorities in New Delhi, Gurugram, and Rajasthan. 

Search and seizure operations conducted on Nov 18 and Dec 30, 2025, at Winzo’s offices, directors’ residences, and its accounting firm resulted in the seizure of incriminating documents and electronic records. The ED also froze movable assets worth about ₹690 crore (~$75M), including bank balances, mutual funds, payment gateway balances, fixed deposits, bonds, and cryptocurrency wallets.

The ED stated that Winzo operated a real-money gaming app offering over 100 games with a claimed user base of around 25 crore (250M), largely from Tier-3 and Tier-4 cities, while charging commissions and assuring users the platform was bot-free and transparent. Analysis of game codebases, developer agreements, and internal communications indicated that most real-money games on the platform were manipulated.

Winzo Gaming Scam Highlights Risks in Indian Gaming Industry

According to the ED, games were embedded with bots and artificial intelligence (AI) profiles until December 2023. From May 2024 to August 2025, Winzo allegedly simulated historical gameplay data of dormant players and matched these profiles against real users without disclosure. The practice was internally masked under terms such as Engagement Play, Past Performance of Player, and Persona. 

Users were initially lured with bonuses and early wins, before harder bots were deployed at higher stakes, resulting in estimated losses of ₹734 crore (~$80M), a development that has intensified scrutiny of practices within the Indian gaming industry. Legitimate winnings and deposits worth ₹47.66 crore (~$5.2M) were allegedly withheld even after the Union government ban on real-money gaming, which was formally implemented on Oct. 1, 2025.

The ED further alleged that proceeds were laundered through shell companies in the US and Singapore, with about $55M routed abroad as overseas direct investment, alongside domestic diversions. The case places renewed regulatory focus on RMG apps operating in India.