The beneficial owners and top managers of one of the most popular online casinos in Ukraine, Pin-Up, are suspected of collaborating with Russia, the State Bureau of Investigation (DBR) and the Prosecutor General's Office announced on Dec. 5.
The casino's owners, who are Russian citizens, allegedly collected personal data and information about the location of their users, including military personnel of the Ukrainian Armed Forces and other military formations.
The law enforcement agencies did not mention the name of the company in their statements. Olena Duma, the head of Ukraine's Asset Recovery and Management Agency (ARMA), said the suspects are the representatives of Pin-Up.
Individuals associated with the casino operate in Russian-occupied Luhansk Oblast, contributing to the Russian state budget as well as financing the military-industrial complex and armed aggression against Ukraine, according to the DBR.
One of the unnamed accused individuals, who "controls the online casino's work," has been financing an organization that helped Russian veterans who fought in Ukraine after the start of the full-scale war.
In May, the Pecherskyi Court in Kyiv seized the accounts of Pin-Up's online casino. It later approved the transfer of over Hr 2.6 billion ($62.5 million) of the company's seized assets to the ARMA. The state agency in turn used those funds to purchase military bonds.
Pin-Up continues to operate in Russia and on Russian websites, the law enforcement agencies reported.
Gambling was officially banned in Ukraine in 2009 until its legalization in 2020.
The negative impacts of gambling, especially on the Ukrainian soldiers, became a topic of public discussion in the spring of 2024 as a petition demanding restrictions on online gambling reached the president's table in March.
President Volodymyr Zelensky signed a decree on April 20 approving restrictions on online gambling and banning it for the military while martial law remains in effect.
Kateryna Hodunova
(Updated: )
