Karnataka HC Directs WinZO To Furnish Financials Details

The Karnataka High Court (HC) yesterday reportedly directed the Enforcement Directorate (ED) to consider a proposal to de-freeze the bank accounts of gaming platform WinZO in lieu of a bank guarantee worth INR 505 Cr.

As per Economic Times, a bench, comprising Justice Suraj Govindaraj, also directed the gaming company to furnish comprehensive financial details of its operations, including money deposited by customers on its platform and the sums paid out.

The HC also reportedly sought detailed disclosures and financials related to WinZO’s subsidiaries and related entities, both in India and overseas. 

The Court has now posted the matter for next hearing later today (December 18). 

The directions came as Justice Govindaraj was hearing a plea filed by the gaming company, seeking de-freezing of its bank accounts seized by the ED. 

Last month, the agency conducted searches at premises linked to the company and froze bank balances, fixed deposits and mutual funds worth INR 505 Cr under anti-money laundering laws. The startup’s two cofounders, Paavan Nanda and Saumya Singh Rathore, were also arrested.

In its petition, the real money gaming (RMG) giant has reportedly argued that the amount frozen was disproportionate to the amount involved in the alleged offence. WinZO has also urged the Court to declare the search and seizure conducted by the agency as illegal and void. 

During the hearing yesterday, the ED’s counsel reportedly argued that searches led to the seizure of incriminating material. The agency reportedly contended that the seized material revealed that the gaming platform deployed a stealth algorithm even as it told its customers that the platform was free from bots.

Earlier, WinZO also reportedly told the HC that it feared that ED might use certain statements (of two cofounders) recorded at their office, but not captured on camera, during the hearing of their bail applications before a local court.

Parallely, the company’s plea also alleges that there was no recording of the search and seizure as mandated under the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS), 2023.

The legal tussle comes weeks after ED conducted search operations at four locations, linked to WinZO, in Delhi and Gurugram on November 18 and 22. A few days later, the company’s two cofounders were also arrested by the agency. 

The ED Bengaluru Zone also froze assets worth INR 505 Cr linked to WinZO under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002. In a statement, the agency said that it took the action after several FIRs were filed against the company over allegations of cheating, blocking user accounts, impersonation, and misuse of PAN details. 

Complaints also alleged that KYC documents were misused and users suffered losses due to fraud. As per ED, WinZO continued running real-money games in multiple overseas countries through its Indian platform despite a ban on online RMG in the country post August 2025. 

The agency also said that the company held on to INR 43 Cr that should have been refunded to players, deployed bots to whip up engagement and diverted funds overseas. About $55 Mn (INR 489.9 Cr) was found parked in the US under a shell entity, WinZO US Inc., despite operations being controlled from India.