Ed Locks INR 523 Crore: Winzo & Gameskraft Under Heat in Money Laundering Probe

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has frozen a whopping INR 523 crore that belongs to the online gaming companies WinZO and Gameskraft (Pocket52). Investigation into money laundering is still ongoing. According to ED, these companies were supposed to refund players after the ban on real-money gaming apps (from August 22, 2025). Another reason is that WinZO made players play against software (and made them believe they were real people). So, what's going to happen next? For that, learn more. 

Why Did Ed Take Action?

The Enforcement Directorate was right into action, freezing the INR 523 crore. According to the ED:

The Companies Kept the Players’ Money

• WinZO still has INR 43 crore that was supposed to be refunded.
• Gameskraft (Pocket52) has around INR 30 crore in their accounts.

Winzo Used Unfair Practices

ED accuses WinZO:

• The company made the players believe they were playing against other players (when they were actually playing against bots).
• The company built algorithms for the same.
• The fact that they were bots wasn't communicated to the players.
• And so many players lost their hard-earned money in these games.
• Hence, ED calls this “unscrupulous” (dishonest) behaviour.

Winzo Was Running Global Operations From India

ED claims that the company run its global business via the app with the same India-based platform.

• Brazil
• USA
• Germany
• And other countries

Huge Amounts of Money Were Moved Abroad

• WinZO diverted a significant portion of its funds to the US and Singapore.
• The funds could be around $55 million (INR 489.9 crore) in the US bank account alone.
• And its US entity is just a shell company (i.e., a company that exists only on paper and is not a real business).

And all its operations were run from India. All these points point towards a suspicion of money laundering.Under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), all of these actions come under 'proceeds of crime.' 

What Was Frozen?

ED froze:

WinZO

• An amount of INR 505 crore is in bank accounts, fixed deposits, mutual funds, and bonds.

Gameskraft (Pocket52)

• The ED froze eight escrow bank accounts totalling INR 18.57 crore.
• Total amount frozen: INR 523 crore.

What Did Winzo Say?

• According to WinZO, the company is fully cooperating with ED.
• It said that it operates with “fairness and transparency.”
• And that they follow all laws and have not accepted any wrongdoing.

Gameskraft has not given any public statement in their defence yet. 

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