Gameskraft, Pocket 52 and Winzo’s offices were raided by the Directorate of Enforcement (ED) between November 18 and 22 under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002.
The raids follow an FIR filed with the Karnataka Police, alleging that gaming platform Pocket52 engaged in large-scale fraud, including manipulating game outcomes, enabling player collusion, allowing technical glitches to persist, imposing withdrawal restrictions, and operating with a lack of transparency. The complainant says they lost over Rs 3 crore due to “systemic cheating,” claiming that Pocket52 dismissed concerns, removed features like hand history, and ignored responsible gaming practices.
Regarding Winzo, the ED says it is investigating allegations that the company engaged in criminal activities and allowed customers to play real money games (RMGs) against algorithms/software without informing them. It also alleges that Winzo limited or prevented users from withdrawing money from their wallets on the platform.
What has the ED’s investigation revealed so far?
The ED says it seized incriminating mobile phones, laptops, and data backups from Gameskraft’s offices. It found that even after the Indian government banned real money gaming in August this year, Gameskraft still had Rs 30 crore in its escrow accounts without refunding customers. It has also frozen eight escrow accounts where it suspects Pocket52 and Gameskraft parked proceeds of their alleged crimes, worth Rs 18.57 crore.
As for Winzo, the ED says the company has held Rs 43 crore without refunding customers. It also alleges that Winzo diverted funds to the USA and Singapore under the guise of overseas investments. According to the ED, Winzo has Rs 489.90 crore in its bank account under its US entity, Winzo US. The agency claims the US entity is a shell company, noting that Winzo conducts all its day-to-day operations from India.
On the fairness of online RMGs
One of the chief concerns in the real money gaming sector is the role of algorithms in determining game outcomes. “When you and I are playing a face-to-face game of cards, we know that the cards are truly random. We can check the cards ourselves. But the minute a game is taken online by companies with profit as their motive, we have no idea how these games are operated. What are the algorithms running it? Are the randomisations truly random when it comes to dealing the cards?” Vishal Gondal, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of game developer GOQii, explained during MediaNama’s discussion on the online gaming law earlier this year.
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Gondal argued that online real money card games could also include bot players. Citing a piece he wrote for MediaNama in 2021, he said that 99% of real money gaming businesses use algorithms to determine outcomes. “It was pre-decided how many much money you are going to win or lose. They had bots playing it, their call centers set up to play games…
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