Law enforcement officers have detained the nominal owner of the online casino PIN-UP, which is suspected of laundering Russian money. According to the investigation, the real owners of this casino are Russians.
This is reported by the State Bureau of Investigation (SBI).
Law enforcement officers have documented the connections of this online casino with representatives of the Russian Federation and Russian capital, as well as with entities subject to sanctions in Ukraine.
Thus, law enforcement officers reported suspicions to the actual beneficial owners of the online casino and the top manager of the regulatory body for aiding the aggressor state, as well as to the director and owner of the trademark and domain name.
The court has now chosen preventive measures in the form of detention for the beneficial owners of the online casino, the director, and the owner of the trademark and domain name. The head of the Commission for the Regulation of Gambling and Lotteries (CRGL) Ivan Rudyi will also be held in custody without bail.
The investigation found that the detained nominal owner did not have legal sources to contribute 30 million hryvnias to the authorized capital of a company with a license to organize gambling. Before that, he was in Cyprus and met with the real owners of the online casino — Russians.
The person directly controlling the online casinoʼs activities, after the start of Russiaʼs full-scale invasion of Ukraine, sponsored Russian veterans who fought against Ukraine. And the online casino still operates on Russian territory and on Russian web resources.
The individuals involved in the online casino activity are filling the Russian budget by conducting economic activities in the part of the Luhansk region temporarily occupied by militants controlled by the Russian Federation. Their money is used to finance the power bloc, the Russian defense-industrial complex, and the armed aggression against Ukraine, SBI notes.
What preceded
On December 5, it became known that the State Bureau of Investigation suspects the beneficial owners and top managers of the Pin-Up online casino of aiding Russia.
On December 18, the head of CRGL Rudyi was detained in Ukraine for supporting the activities of the Russian online casino Pin-Up in Ukraine.
- On December 4, the Verkhovna Rada passed in the second reading Bill No. 9256-d, which provides for the liquidation of CRGL. By April 1, 2025, a new authorized body must be established in its place and a ministry must be designated to shape policy in the field of gambling and lotteries.
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