The Security Service, together with the Economic Security Bureau of Ukraine, eliminated a large-scale scheme to launder the shadow profits of the gambling business.
The management of one of the capitalʼs banks, which specialized in electronic money transfer services, was involved in the organization of the arrangement.
Recently, the NBU deprived the financial institution of its license and started the procedure for its liquidation due to the facts of numerous financial frauds. "It is thanks to the principled position of the National Bank that law enforcement officers managed to establish an effective countermeasure against threats to national security in the banking sector," the SBU noted.
It has been established that bank officials have established a mechanism for legalizing the money of unlicensed online casinos and bookmakers under the guise of providing innovative payment services.
In this way, the sections served the illegal gambling business, the total turnover of which is UAH 180 billion per year.
The bankʼs shadow profit from illegal financial transactions amounted to more than UAH 2.5 billion every year.
To implement the scheme, its organizers created an extensive payment infrastructure, which involved more than 20 controlled commercial structures.
Their accounts were used to deposit funds from topping up game accounts on gambling sites.
Then the transferred money was transferred to the shadows through a network of affiliated companies and distributed among the organizers of the arrangement.
In addition, the law enforcement officers documented numerous facts of payments made from cards of Russian banks. This happened already after the full-scale invasion of the Russian Federation, bypassing the relevant ban of the National Bank of Ukraine.
SBU employees, together with ESBU detectives, conduct searches in the bankʼs offices and companies controlled by it. These actions take place within the framework of criminal proceedings initiated under two articles of the Criminal Code of Ukraine:
- Part 3 of Art. 212 (evasion of payment of taxes, fees (mandatory payments);
- Part 2 of Art. 364 (abuse of power or official position).
The shareholders of IBOX Bank are Volodymyr Drobot, who owns 73.92% of the shares, and Alyona Shevtsova, who owns 24.98% of the shares.