Nominal owner of online casino suspected of money laundering detained in Russia

Law enforcement officers detained the nominal owner of an online casino that, according to investigators, was involved in laundering Russian money, and informed him of the suspicion.

The press service of the Prosecutor General's Office reported this on Telegram.

«Under the procedural guidance of the prosecutors of the Prosecutor General's Office, the nominal owner of a well-known online casino was detained and reported on suspicion of aiding an aggressor state (Part 1, Article 111-2 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine)», the report states.

According to the investigation, the defendant contributed UAH 30 million to the authorized capital of a legal entity engaged in the organization of gambling on the Internet, the origin of which was not legally known confirmed.

Law enforcement officers have established that the beneficial owners of the online casino – citizens of the Russian Federation – ensured the illegal operation of the online casino on the territory of Ukraine.

«Using a web resource, they, together with other individuals, collected information about users – customers of an online casino website. They had personal data and information about the location of clients, including servicemen of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and other military formations,» – the UCP said.

According to prosecutors, individuals associated with the online casino conduct their activities on the territory of the so-called «LPR», which provides an opportunity to finance the power bloc, the defense-industrial complex of the aggressor state – the Russian Federation.

It is separately noted that the detainee spent a long time in the territory of the Republic of Cyprus, where he communicated with citizens of the Russian Federation – the beneficial owners of the online casino.

Currently, the issue of choosing a pretrial detention center for the defendant is being resolved event.

The UCP recalled that earlier the actual beneficial owners of the online casino, the director and the owner of the trademark and domain were notified of suspicions of aiding the aggressor state (Part 1, Article 111-2 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine).

At the request of prosecutors, over 2.6 billion UAH were arrested and transferred to the ARMA department, which are in the accounts of companies involved in organizing the activities of this online casino. The Asset Management Agency purchased domestic government loan bonds «Military Bonds» with the seized funds.

The pre-trial investigation into the case is being conducted by the SBI Main Directorate, operational support is provided by the SBI Special Directorate, located in the city of Kyiv.