SBI detains director of PIN-UP online casino suspected of money laundering

The State Bureau of Investigation has detained the director of the PIN-UP online casino, which is suspected of laundering Russian money, the SBI said on Friday, UNN reports.

SBI detains director of a company operating in Ukraine under the PIN-UP online casino brand

As stated, the investigation established that the real owners of this commercial entity, which received a license to organize and conduct casino gambling on the Internet, are citizens of the Russian Federation.

The detainee was served a notice of suspicion of aiding the aggressor state. A motion to impose custody as a measure of restraint is being prepared

The pre-trial investigation is ongoing. "The involvement of other subjects under investigation by the Bureau is being documented, and the circle of such subjects is being established," the Bureau said.

It is noted that as part of the investigation into the activities of this online casino, the Bureau and prosecutors of the Prosecutor General's Office, in cooperation with the State Financial Monitoring Service of Ukraine, found evidence of aiding and abetting the aggressor state.

"In particular, the documented links of online casinos with representatives of the Russian Federation, entities sanctioned in Ukraine, as well as financial flows to fill the aggressor's budget and support activities related to armed aggression against Ukraine," the SBI said.

As noted, the SBI staff conducted a set of procedural measures, including technical ones, with the involvement of relevant experts, who "confirmed the negative consequences for the combat capability of the Ukrainian Defense Forces due to the use of the services of this online casino.

"The investigation also found that persons associated with online casino activities carry out their business activities in the territory of the so-called "lPR", thus filling the enemy's budget," the SBI said.

"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 "svoya". The online casino itself, as the Bureau found out during the pre-trial investigation, continues to operate in Russia and on Russian web resources," the SBI said.

Preliminary, within the framework of the proceedings, based on the collected evidence, the heads and of the Commission for Regulation of Gambling and Lotteries were served suspicion notices on the facts of aiding the aggressor state and illegal production, manufacture, acquisition, storage, transportation or transfer of narcotic drugs, psychotropic substances or their analogues without the purpose of sale, as well as on the facts of aiding the aggressor state.

The actual beneficial owners of the online casino, the nominal owner and persons associated with its activities, including the owner of the trademark and domain name, were also notified of the suspicions. Some of these individuals are on the wanted list. In January of this year, the SBI detained the nominal owner of the PIN-UP online casino.

It is also reported that the court granted the motion of the SBI and the Office of the Prosecutor General to transfer to the management of the ARMA more than UAH 2.6 billion seized on the accounts of the said online casino associated with representatives of the aggressor state.

The Cabinet of Ministers has approved the purchase by the ARMA of the Military Bonds in the amount of UAH 2 billion, which are already working to support our defense capability and economy.

Recall

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy signed Law No. 9256-d on the liquidation of the Commission for Regulation of Gambling and Lotteries (CRGL) from April 1, 2025, the creation of a new body, increased liability for gambling organizers, and a ban on gambling advertising.

In December 2024, the Verkhovna Rada voted to liquidate KRAIL on April 1, 2025, and create a new gambling regulator. The law strengthens control over the gambling market and establishes new fines for operators.

According to the draft law, it is planned to liquidate the CRGL, which currently conducts state regulation of activities in the field of organizing and conducting gambling, and to create a "central executive body that ensures the formation and implementation of state policy in the field of organizing and conducting gambling and lottery, as well as an authorized body within the limits of their powers defined by the Constitution and laws of Ukraine.

In 2024, the head of the Commission for Regulation of Gambling and Lotteries (CRGL), Ivan Rudyi, was detained for supporting the operation of online casinos in Ukraine from Russia.

The court sent Rudyi to a pre-trial detention center without the right to post bail.

Add

UNN back in 2022 drew attention to the inaction of the CRC in the context of another Russian casino, 1Xbet, which tried to operate in Ukraine through LLC "Your Betting Company" and to which the CRC issued a license . At that time, the Commission stubbornly did not see any Russian connections.

It was only after the personal intervention of President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and the Bureau of Economic Security that the work permits in Ukraine were eventually revoked .

In 2023, 1Xbet was subject to sanctions.