A Bengaluru sessions court on December 26 granted bail to Saumya Singh Rathore, co-founder and director of Winzo Games Pvt Ltd, in a money-laundering case filed by the Enforcement Directorate (ED), according to a report by Bar and Bench.
However, the court denied bail to the company’s other co-founder, Paavan Nanda, and allowed the agency to take him into custody for four days, the report stated.
The joint order was issued by Principal City Civil and Sessions Judge M. Chandrashekar Reddy in connection with a complaint alleging offenses under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002.
Who is Paavan Nanda?
Paavan Nanda, 38, is an Indian entrepreneur and one of the co-founders of WinZO, a prominent real-money and social gaming platform. Before launching WinZO in 2018, he was involved in building Zostel, a well-known backpacker hostel chain, along with its budget-hotel aggregation venture, ZO Rooms.
In terms of education, Nanda earned an engineering degree from Netaji Subhas Institute of Technology (NSIT), New Delhi, and later completed an MBA from the Indian Institute of Management, Calcutta (IIM-C) in 2014.
Who is Saumya Singh Rathore?
Saumya Singh Rathore is a co-founder of WinZO, an online gaming platform that was launched in 2018.
According to her LinkedIn, she completed a master’s degree in Organizational and Consumer Psychology (Industrial and Consumer Psychology) from the University of Manchester between 2008 and 2009. During this time, she was certified in occupational testing by SHL and was a member of the British Psychological Society.
Earlier, she studied Applied Psychology at Bangalore University, specializing in Applied Clinical Psychology, beginning in September 2005.
Why court granted bail to Saumya Singh Rathore?
The sessions court granted Rathore bail, ruling that she qualified for relief under the proviso to Section 45 of the PMLA, which exempts women accused from the law’s strict bail requirements. “Accused No.1 being a ‘woman’, her case falls under the proviso to Section 45(1)(ii) of PML Act, and the twin conditions are not applicable in her case,” the Court said, according to Bar and Bench,
The judge observed that Rathore had already been subjected to extensive custodial questioning and that further detention was unnecessary. “Merely because she has to be confronted with statements of her employees or that some more evidence is to be collected, that will be no ground for seeking Accused No.1 for further custody by ED,” the Court said, as reported by Bar and Bench.
money laundering case
The money laundering case of the ED against WinZO and its promoters was filed on November 6, taking cognizance of a Gurugram police cyber crime FIR where a gamer had complained that he lost nearly 42 lakh through their real money games like ludo and snakes, etc.
“The funds worth USD 55 million ( 489.90 crore) have been parked in their (promoters) bank account in USA (bank accounts held in the name of ‘WINZO US Inc’), which is a shell company, since all the operations and day-to-day business activities, operation of bank accounts is done from India,” the agency said in a press statement.
WinZO Games Pvt Ltd is in the business of online real money gaming services through its app – WinZO.
Probe found, it alleged, that the company and its directors indulged in cheating real-time human players by using the deceptive “PPP” algorithm and they have generated proceeds of crime, at least amounting to 177 crore, for the period from May 2024 to August 2025.
It added that the directors “diverted” the proceeds of crime to their foreign subsidiaries and thus were guilty of the offense of money laundering. The agency said the funds diverted to the foreign entities were quantified at USD 55 million ( Rs 489.90 crore.
The ED officials further stated that WinZO Pvt Ltd was engaged in alleged criminal activities and unscrupulous practices, with customers playing with algorithms or software without being made aware of the fact that they are not playing any humans on the other side.
“WinZO has also prevented and limited withdrawals of monies held by the customers in the wallets of WinZO Pvt Ltd,” said the agency.
Accused No.1 being a ‘woman’, her case falls under the proviso to Section 45(1)(ii) of PML Act, and the twin conditions are not applicable in her case.
The ED stated that its investigation revealed WinZO was operating real-money games from India in overseas markets, including Brazil, the United States, and Germany, utilizing the same platform as its Indian operations. The agency further alleged that, despite the Union government’s ban on real-money games, effective 22 August 2025, the company continues to hold 43 crore without refunding the money to gamers and customers.
(With inputs from agencies, Bar and Bench)
Key Takeaways
- Bail decisions can vary significantly based on the defendant’s gender under specific legal provisions.
- The gaming industry faces increasing scrutiny and legal challenges regarding money laundering and fraudulent practices.
- Understanding the legal framework surrounding money laundering is crucial for companies operating in high-risk sectors.
