Ukrainian watchdog seizes €17.3m from gambling operator

The Economic Security Bureau of Ukraine has accused the operator of evading taxes.

Ukraine.- The Economic Security Bureau of Ukraine (ESBU) says it has seized UAH700m (€17.3m) from an account belonging to a gambling operator due to alleged tax evasion. It did not name the company involved, describing it only as a leading operator in the Ukrainian market.

The ESBU, which is a pre-trial investigation body for criminal violations in the economy, alleged that the operator had evaded UAH1.20bn in taxes. It said that employees of the operator was not located at the address registered for its licence and had been offering unlicensed online gambling through over 30 mirror websites.

The watchdog said that a misdirection of payments scheme was allegedly used to permit large-scale tax evasion and that employees had concealed evidence, obstructing its investigation. A pre-trial investigation is ongoing with the participation of the Prosecutor General’s Office.

Local media have suggested that the company at the centre of the investigation is Cosmolot. It says it has filed a legal complaint to dispute the charges, arguing that it only runs its officially licensed site cosmolot.ua.

Last year, ESBU carried our several operations to clamp down on unlicensed gambling in Ukraine. These included arrests over the alleged operation of unlicensed gaming venues in the capital Kyiv and the southern city of Odesa. The ESBU says it seized assets worth 2.4m hryvnias ($65,000) in raids at a series of venues located on the ground floors of residential buildings