India seeks help from six countries on its igaming crackdown
India’s financial crime unit, the Enforcement Directorate, says it will initiate letters of request to authorities in the US, Singapore, Dubai, the UAE, the Netherlands, and Brazil as part of its crackdown on igaming.
According to The Economic Times, the letters seek information from countries related to alleged offshore criminal activity involving Indian igaming platforms, specifically Winzo Games Pvt Ltd and Gameskraft Technologies Pvt Ltd.
Winzo has three subsidiaries, with one in the US and another in Singapore. In documents submitted by Winzo and reviewed by the Enforcement Directorate, the group claims that it describes itself as a “creative arts and entertainment activities” business.
Yet, the Enforcement Directorate argues that Winzo’s foreign entities engage in real-money games, which are banned in India, and had transferred its real-money gaming operations to its US subsidiary.
In an earlier statement, the Enforcement Directorate said, “it was also found that funds by the Indian entity have been diverted to the US and Singapore under the garb of overseas investments. Funds worth US$55 million have been parked in their US bank account (held in the name of ‘WINZO US Inc’), which is a shell company, since all operations and day-to-day business activities, including operation of bank accounts, are done from India.”
The Enforcement Directorate also noted that Winzo and Gameskraft had violated the Foreign Exchange Management Act by diverting money made by real-money gaming to the UAE and the Netherlands under the guise of “foreign investments.”
The Enforcement Directorate has arrested the owners of Winzo, Saumya Singh Rathore and Paavan Nanda.
Charlotte Capewell brings her passion for storytelling and expertise in writing, researching, and the gambling industry to every article she writes. Her specialties include the US gambling industry, regulator legislation, igaming, and more.
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The Backstory
Why India’s crackdown is reaching six countries
India’s enforcement push against offshore-facing real-money gaming has entered a cross-border phase as investigators trace alleged fund flows and corporate structures tied to platforms serving Indian users. The Enforcement Directorate has said it intends to issue letters of request to authorities in the United States, Singapore, the United Arab Emirates, the Netherlands and Brazil as it pursues cases that hinge on whether Indian-facing gaming companies shifted real-money operations abroad and moved proceeds out of the country under the guise of routine investment. The agency has laid out a theory of the case that centers on foreign subsidiaries, bank accounts and licensing footprints, alleging that real-money products banned in India were operated from overseas while decisions and daily activity still took place at home. It has also cited potential violations of the Foreign Exchange Management Act tied to transfers routed through the UAE and the Netherlands.
The contours of this strategy follow months of scrutiny of Indian-linked entities that operate gaming products with cash stakes. The regulator’s focus has been on whether companies packaged those products as “creative arts and entertainment” while running real-money games abroad, then parking funds in offshore accounts. The agency has pointed to one U.S. account that allegedly held about $55 million and was controlled from India despite being registered under a separate corporate unit. Details of the widening inquiry were first circulated in domestic media, with The Economic Times reporting that investigators would seek information overseas on corporate registration, banking and licensing connected to Indian gaming platforms. That report can be read at The Economic Times’ coverage of the widened probe.
The cross-border approach reflects how online gambling and betting operators span jurisdictions, payment rails and compliance regimes. For Indian authorities, establishing where control sits and where value is created will be central to testing whether foreign units were used to sidestep domestic prohibitions on real-money play and to move funds outside the regulatory perimeter.
Local heat: police raids and IPL season risks
The national financial probe tracks with a groundswell of local enforcement aimed at curbing illegal betting during marquee sports windows. In Karnataka, the Mandya Police formed specialized teams to target online betting networks as the Indian Premier League season kicked off in late March. Authorities there said they were monitoring platforms, raiding alleged operators and registering cases in response to community complaints and reported harms linked to losses from betting. The move underscores the immediate pressure points for law enforcement: sports-led betting spikes, opaque intermediaries and the speed of online payments.
These local actions provide the ground-level context for the financial crimes inquiry. While the Enforcement Directorate is tracing corporate structures, state and district police are striking at the distribution layer where agents, chat-based tipsters and payment handlers connect bettors to offshore sites. The two tracks reinforce each other. Police raids disrupt front-end access and cash collection while federal investigators follow the money to the alleged offshore endpoints.
Japan’s mirror image: overseas sites, domestic impact
Japan is pursuing a parallel playbook as it tries to curb offshore online casinos targeting its residents. The government recently began talks with regulators in Canada, Costa Rica, Malta and Georgia, as well as with authorities in Anjouan, the Isle of Man and Gibraltar, asking them to help block access by Japanese users to locally translated sites. The outreach follows an analysis showing that many operators serving Japan hold offshore licenses and market actively in Japanese.
In practice, Tokyo has limited leverage over foreign-licensed operators but is exerting pressure where it can. Authorities have targeted payment agents and affiliates that promote the sites and convert yen to crypto or other instruments tied to offshore play. That strategy was laid out in reporting on Japan’s request to foreign regulators, which frames the issue as a cross-border enforcement challenge similar to India’s. The National Police Agency has also highlighted the scale of online gambling participation; its English-language resources are available at the National Police Agency website.
The theme of domestic fallout from offshore platforms has turned high profile. Tokyo police this year referred cases involving six entertainers to prosecutors over alleged gambling via offshore operators, a saga that drew attention to how social media and YouTube content can normalize illicit play. Details of the cases and the admitted wagers were described in coverage of the comedian investigations. As in India, investigators are mapping access points, financial intermediaries and marketing channels to choke supply without direct jurisdiction over the sites themselves.
U.S. regulators set a compliance baseline
The cross-border crackdown is not limited to Asia. U.S. state regulators have been escalating actions against offshore casinos that accept American bettors, arguing that these sites bypass consumer protections, taxation and responsible gambling mandates. In June, the Michigan Gaming Control Board issued cease-and-desist orders to six brands that the agency said were operating unlawfully in the state, adding to a string of orders earlier in the spring. The regulator framed the moves as a signal to “rogue” operators and a reminder that only state-approved sites meet legal standards. The details are in Michigan’s enforcement update against unlicensed platforms.
For India’s investigators, the U.S. posture matters. If a U.S.-registered subsidiary is alleged to have run real-money games for an overseas audience, American banks and licensing bodies become potential evidence sources. State-level actions also help define what compliance looks like in a mature regulated market, a useful contrast to the unlicensed or gray-market models that often anchor offshore operations.
Legal online channels emerge as a release valve
While enforcement tightens, some jurisdictions are building legal alternatives designed to capture demand and steer play into regulated channels. In the Philippines, integrated resort operators can offer online gaming to verified members under the PIGO framework for domestic users, a pandemic-era measure that has evolved into a long-term revenue stream. Universal Entertainment said it is leaning on that model to stabilize performance at Okada Manila after a drop in 2024 driven by a junket slowdown. The operator is pushing its digital offering to local members as part of a 2025 recovery plan, as outlined in reporting on Okada Manila’s online pivot.
The policy takeaway for regulators like those in India and Japan is twofold. First, sustained enforcement against offshore operators and their payment and marketing ecosystems can shrink access, especially during high-risk periods such as major sports seasons. Second, clear legal pathways for online play, when aligned with strict KYC and tax controls, can redirect demand and reduce the appeal of unlicensed sites. The Philippines’ carve-out is not a template for every market, but it shows how licensed online channels can coexist with brick-and-mortar casinos while bringing activity onshore.
India’s next steps will turn on cooperation from foreign authorities and the strength of financial trails linked to alleged real-money gaming. If investigators can document control, cash flows and decision-making across borders, they could test new limits on how Indian-facing platforms structure global operations. The stakes include consumer protection, tax collection and the balance between innovation and enforcement in one of the world’s largest online markets.
