India’s financial crime agency seizes ₹524 Crore from gaming firms

The ED alleges that WinZO continued to provide real-money games despite India’s ban.

India.- The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has said that it has confiscated over ₹524 crore (US$3.6m) in assets belonging to WinZo Games and Nirdesa Networks amid ongoing money-laundering probes linked to claims of cheating, manipulated games, fund diversion and flouting India’s recent ban on real-money gaming.

Th ED says the funds were seized during searches at the online gaming companies’ premises in Delhi, Gurugram, and Bengaluru between November 18 and 22. The searches at WinZO’s offices resulted in the freezing of nearly ₹505 crore (US$3.47m) in assets, including bank balances, fixed deposits, bonds and mutual funds.

WinZO is accused of impersonation, cheating, misuse of PAN details, fraudulent loss of customer funds, and the misuse of KYC information. The ED alleged that WinZO continued to provide real-money games to customers in countries including Brazil, the US and Germany from India, despite the ban on such games from August 22. The agency claims that the company still holds ₹43 crore (US$296,025) in customer funds.

WinZO is accused of allegedly matching users with undisclosed algorithms instead of human players, as well as imposing restrictions on withdrawals. Funds were allegedly siphoned off under the pretext of overseas investments, including a $55m transaction to a US bank account.

In another case, the ED raided the offices of Nirdesa Networks and Gameskraft Technologies, and the residences of directors. It seized laptops and mobile phones after a complaint to Karnataka Police accused the companies of manipulating game outcomes, removing transparency features such as hand histories, imposing restrictions on withdrawals, and failing to comply with responsible gaming norms.

Nirdesa Networks’s gaming site, Pocket52 is also alleged to hold over ₹30 crore (US$206529) in user funds in escrow accounts. The ED has frozen eight accounts holding ₹18.57 crore (US$127,841) under the Prevention of Money Laundering (PMLA) provisions

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The ED alleges that WinZO continued to provide real-money games despite India’s ban. India.- The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has said that it has confiscated over ₹524 crore (US$3.6m) in assets…