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He was arrested in Bengaluru on Wednesday (November 26) after being interrogated at the zonal office of the federal investigation agency, he said.
Both were produced before a local court in Bengaluru the same night and the court sent them to one-day custody. According to officials, he is expected to be produced before the court again for detailed orders.
On November 24, the ED alleged in a statement that ₹43 crore of gamers’ funds were “seized” by the company and that these funds should have been returned to players after India banned real-money gaming.
The ED had last week raided the premises of WinZO and Gamezkraft, another company offering online gaming, and their promoters under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).
The ED had accused WinZO of indulging in “criminal activities and dishonest practices as customers were forced to play with algorithms without making them aware of the fact that they are playing with software and not with humans in a real money game”. It said WinZO was operating real-money games (RMG) from India (on the same platform used by the Indian entity) in countries such as Brazil, the US and Germany.
“Even after the ban on RMG by the Central Government (from 22/08/2025), an amount of ₹43 crore is still with the company without being refunded to the gamers/customers,” the ED alleged.
It said that bonds, fixed deposits and mutual funds worth ₹505 crore held by WinZO Games have been frozen under PMLA. Responding to these allegations, a WinZO spokesperson said in a statement, “Fairness and transparency are core to how WinZO designs and operates its platform.”
“We are focused on protecting our users and ensuring a safe, reliable experience,” WinZO said. He said it fully complied with all applicable laws.
WinZO also prevented or limited withdrawal of money held in wallets by customers and generated alleged illicit funds in the form of bet amounts placed and lost by genuine customers through “dishonest” use of algorithms/software, the ED said.
The agency claimed that WinZO’s global operations were conducted through a single app, meaning they were hosted on an India-based platform.
“It was also found that funds have been diverted to the US and Singapore in the guise of foreign investment by the Indian entity.
“A sum of US$ 55 million (approximately Rs 489.90 crore) has been deposited in his (WinZO) bank account in the US, which is a shell company as all operations and day-to-day business activities and bank accounts were operated from India,” the ED alleged. The agency also made similar allegations against Gamezcraft.