SBI detains head of KRAIL for links to Russian online casino
18 December 14:58
SBI officers detained the head of the Commission for Regulation of Gambling and Lotteries on suspicion of aiding the aggressor state, as well as illegal possession of drugs in large quantities, without the purpose of sale (Article 111-2 and Article 309 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine). This was reported by Komersant ukrainskyi with reference to the State Bureau of Investigation.
In particular, it concerns the support of an online casino in Ukraine owned by Russians. According to the investigation, KRAIL did not deliberately revoke the license of an online casino beneficially owned by Russians, and its representatives assisted the aggressor state.
“During the pre-trial investigation, the SBI found that the institution headed by him issued and, on his instructions, deliberately failed to take actions to revoke the license to organize online gambling to a commercial entity beneficially owned by Russians, and its representatives assisted the aggressor state. The decision was not made even though numerous examinations showed that the online casino’s activities threatened national security. In particular, the data of the Ukrainian military, who were casino customers, could easily get to the Russians,” the SBI noted.
Thus, during the SBI investigation, among other things, it was found that 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 “svoe”. The online casino itself continues to operate in Russia and on Russian web resources.
Currently, the court has chosen custody as a measure of restraint for the beneficial owners of the said online casino, the director and the owner of the trademark and domain name. They were served suspicion notices under the article on aiding the aggressor state (Art. 111-2 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine).
Also, the Bureau, together with other authorized bodies, is taking measures to recover the seized funds to the state budget in accordance with the current legislation.
As a reminder, the court granted the motion of the SBI and the Prosecutor General’s Office to transfer to the ARMA more than UAH 2.6 billion (the total amount of seized funds, including profitable financial transactions) seized on the accounts of an online casino associated with representatives of the aggressor state.
During the searches, a large amount of cocaine was found and seized from the head of KRAIL.
On October 28, 2020, the Cabinet of Ministers appointed Ivan Rudyi as the head of the Commission for Regulation of Gambling and Lotteries.
Ukrainian News reported, citing law enforcement sources, that about 100 grams of cocaine were found on Rudyi’s person.
