10 accused over illegal online casino operation in Ukraine

Those charged include two Russians and a Ukrainian woman married to one of them.

Ukraine.- Ruslan Kravchenko, Prosecutor General of Ukraine, says charges have been filed in relation to a network of illegal online casinos run by two Russian citizens and the wife of one of them. The participants have reportedly been charged with committing crimes as part of an organised group and engaging in illegal gambling activities under Part 3 of Article 28, Part 2 of Article 203-2 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine.

Three organisers were additionally charged with laundering criminally obtained proceeds under Part 3 of Article 209.

The prosecutor general said payments were made in cryptocurrency, including stablecoins (USDT). Players transferred funds to the organisers’ crypto wallets. To legitimise the profits, money was first accumulated in accounts of a company registered in Estonia before being transferred to offshore companies, Kravchenko said, as reported by the Ukrainian news agency, Interfax Ukraine. Assets equivalent to over UAH5 bn (around €97m) were reportedly laundered in this way.

“Two Russian citizens and the wife of one of them, a Ukrainian citizen, created a large-scale online gambling network,” Kravchenko wrote on Telegram. “They brought seven more Ukrainians into the operation. Through affiliated IT companies, scheme participants ran at least five online casino websites. Some of them had previously operated legally, but after their licences were revoked, the organisers created new sites with the same names and continued the illegal business”.

The two Russian citizens were served with notices of suspicion in absentia, the Ukrainian citizen in person. The whereabouts of the remaining seven participants are being established. Notices of suspicion were served on them through relatives in the manner prescribed by law, Kravchenko said.