Pin-Up online casino managers suspected of aiding the aggressor state
5 December 2024 15:49
The State Bureau of Investigation has served notice of suspicion to the beneficial owners and top managers of an online casino suspected of laundering Russian money. This was reported by the State Bureau of Investigation, according to
The report of law enforcement officers does not specify which online casino it is, but judging by the plot of the case, it is the Pin-UP online casino. The media also claim that it is the Pin-Up online casino, whose activities have long been monitored by law enforcement agencies.
According to the State Bureau of Investigation, as part of the investigation into the activities of a commercial entity that has received a license to organize online gambling, facts of aiding and abetting the aggressor state were revealed.
What the investigators found
The connections of this online casino with representatives of the Russian Federation and Russian capital, as well as with entities sanctioned in Ukraine, were documented. The business also operated under the cover of the entities investigated by the Bureau.
The investigation revealed that the persons associated with the online casino activities carry out their business activities in the territory of the so-called “lPR”, thus filling the aggressor’s budget. They finance the power bloc, the military-industrial complex of the Russian Federation, and the armed aggression against Ukraine.
In addition, the person who directly controls the activities of the online casino, after the start of the full-scale invasion, financed the veterans of the so-called “svo”. The online casino itself continues to operate in Russia and on Russian web resources.
Based on the collected evidence, the actual beneficial owners of the online casino were served with a notice of suspicion under Art. 111-2 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine on the facts of aiding the aggressor state, as well as persons associated with its activities, including the director and the owner of the trademark and domain name.
What else is known about Pin-Up’s activities in Ukraine
The casino has been operating in Ukraine since 2021 under the license of the Commission for Regulation of Gambling and Lotteries. By the way, the Verkhovna Rada has adopted in the second reading the draft law on strengthening control in the gambling market No. 9256-d, which, among other things, provides for the liquidation of the Commission for Regulation of Gambling and Lotteries.
Law enforcers suspect Pin-Up of money laundering through cryptocurrencies and circumventing sanctions against Russia. The investigation found that from January 2022 to February 2024, Pin-Up transferred more than UAH 170 million to the Russian company Guruflow Team LTD for license fees. The total volume of suspicious transactions during this period exceeded UAH 714 billion.
In August, as part of an investigation into money laundering schemes “involving a number of business entities licensed to organize online gambling,” the court seized funds in casino accounts and transferred them to the Asset Recovery and Management Agency.
In October, the Pechersk District Court of Kyiv canceled the seizure of UAH 2.6 billion from the Pin-Up online casino. The National Asset Recovery Agency then turned to the State Bureau of Investigation for a new arrest.
As reported by
