There was an information leak from the company and a mailing with messages about fraud and bankruptcy.
At the beginning of December 2023, users of the SettlePay Wallet payment system received letters about the misuse of client funds. The company declares itself bankrupt and reports that the debts were withdrawn from the company's accounts and are at the disposal of the owners of the service, Igor Bokiy and Andrey Savchenko.
There were no additional comments on the situation. For this, even more questions arise. Especially considering that SettlePay has been walking on thin ice for a long time and, in addition to the No. 1 partner on Binance, is the No. 1 tool for illegal financial transactions from gaming and other businesses.
SettlePay Wallet: How do Bokiy and Savchenko use the website for financial fraud?
SettlePay.net is a website owned and operated by WORLDSEC PAYMENTS LIMITED registered in Canada.
SettlePay Wallet is a digital wallet that allows you to make crypto-fiat transactions to bank cards.
Binance Pay – payment for goods and services via Binance.
SettlePay acquiring is a business service that allows other companies to accept non-cash electronic payments for their goods and services.
Acquiring is provided by banks and licensed banks.
Special conditions are offered for business:
Providing services for making online payments on non-contractual terms, without crediting funds to the company's account, by paying reimbursement of acquired funds to cryptogamers. In simple words, the company provides online payment services without having licenses, permission, or registered software.
The main clients are illegal gaming sites in Ukraine.
In the period from 2017 to 2022, 4Bill (part of the Savchenko-Bokiy group) used a number of shell companies to undergo onboarding with Ukrainian banks and obtain payment terminals for miscoding at illegal casinos:
SettlePay helps illegal online casinos earn illegal funds
The service works closely with shadow businesses. In particular, if you look at online casinos that do not have a CRAIL license and operate illegally, SettlePay is listed as a tool for depositing and withdrawing funds.
The monthly circulation from illegal online casinos averaged UAH 7.4 billion. Over 5 years of activity, the approximate turnover from shadow acquiring alone amounted to more than 400 billion UAH. Not a penny of taxes was paid from the laundered funds.
On the wallet page, SettlePay showcases its partners. That is, companies with which you can interact through Settlepay Wallet. Some companies operate in Ukraine without a license, that is, illegally. In particular, this applies to online casinos, which also operate in Russia. Which raises even more questions for the service owners.
Savchenko and Bokiy: money laundering worth billions and defrauded Ukrainian banks
Savchenko and Bokiy misled Ukrainian banks, and their licenses were taken away. They provided fake websites and companies to obtain Internet acquiring services without paying taxes and successfully avoiding liability.
Group of companies controlled by Savchenko and Bokiy LLC Baypay, LLC Bestpay, LLC Guru-Pay, LLC Digital Finance, LLC Zetcard, LLC Network Payments, LLC Proloto, LLC Fast Pay "Point", FC "Sun Rise", LLC "FC "Modern Settlement Systems", LLC "Ademio", were registered as trading operators providing transfer services from card to card, payment fees, replenishment of games, replenishment of a mobile number account, payment of utility bills.
After this, a package of documents was provided to the bank(s), with a website (supposedly conducting p2p payments and acquiring), onboarding was carried out, and payment terminals were issued for conducting transactional operations.
Since these types of sites always have incoming and outgoing payment traffic, it was convenient for laundering funds from illegal casinos.
Subsequently, payment terminals were not used for their intended purpose on sites submitted to the bank for onboarding, but were used on illegal gambling websites.
The owners of Ibox Bank, who were actually framed, also had to pay for the scheme deals of Bokiy and Savchenko with a license.
The bank provided processing services for SettlePay and 4Bill. Savchenko and Bokiy used this resource in their schemes to work out financial flows from casinos and Forex.
This significantly influenced the fact that the Bank was accused of disguising payment codes (miscoding) in order to cover up transfers in favor of representatives of the gambling business or companies involved in cryptocurrency. Although Savchenko-Bokiy should have been held responsible for this.
As a result, on March 7, 2023, the National Bank revoked the license of the Bank and on the same day put it on liquidation without the possibility of finding new investors and restoration.
At the same time, Bokiy and Savchenko continue to successfully launder money.
Returning to repentance - Bokiy and Savchenko: criminal cases and newsletter from SettlePay
Returning to the message from the SettlePay newsletter. Obviously, this message is not official. It is difficult to imagine such “noble” and honest activity from schemers who, during the war, continue to deceive the state of billions.
But this is the first call to the schemers, which can be heard much louder if they do not review their position.
Law enforcement agencies should take an interest in these individuals and companies. After all, based on the above, at a minimum, there are offenses:
- Article 200 (Illegal actions with transfer documents, payment cards and other means of access to bank accounts, electronic money, equipment for their production)
- Article 212 (Evasion of taxes, fees - obligatory payments)
- Article 220-2 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (falsification of financial documents and reporting of a financial organization, concealment of the insolvency of a financial institution or grounds for revocation (cancellation) of a financial institution’s license).
