ED raids premises linked to WinZO, Gamezkraft in money laundering probe

The Enforcement Directorate on Tuesday raided premises linked to online gaming platforms WinZO and Gamezkraft as part of a money laundering investigation, official sources said.

A total of 11 premises were covered in the raids, including five located in Bengaluru, four in Delhi and two in Gurugram (Haryana), they said.

The search action is being conducted by the Bengaluru zonal office against the two online gaming companies which own websites named WinZO app and Gamezkraft (pocket52.com), ED sources said.

The two platforms could not be immediately contacted for a comment on the ED action against them.

The corporate offices of the two gaming operators along with residences of their CEOs, COOs and CFOs are being covered in the action.

It is alleged in the police FIRs filed by the victims that these gaming companies"manipulated" the algorithm of the app putting the gamers at disadvantage, the sources alleged.

The federal probe agency suspects that the promoters "owned" crypto wallets indicating laundering through crypto currencies, they claimed.

The Union government has recently banned real money online gaming in India by enacting a legislation.