The head of the detective department for economic protection in the field of virtual assets of the Main Detective Division of the Bureau of Economic Security of Ukraine and the detectives of this department, as well as prosecutors of the Office of the Prosecutor General, “leaked” the high-profile case of Your Betting Company LLC (TSK), which worked in Ukraine under the Russian trademark 1xBet.
According to the Unified State Register of Judicial Decisions, TSK LLC appealed to the Kiev District Administrative Court with a demand to recognize as illegal and cancel the decision dated 09/06/2022 No. 321 “On the cancellation of TSK LLC’s license to carry out activities in the organization and production of bookmaking activities” and other restrictions . The court has so far refused this request, but it is possible that due to the inaction of detectives and prosecutors, the case will be closed, the perpetrators will not be punished, and the Ukrainian budget will receive nothing.
Let us recall that in September last year, the Commission for the Regulation of Gambling and Lotteries (CRAIL) decided to cancel two licenses from Your Betting Company LLC (TSK): an online casino and a bookmaker.
In March of this year, Your Betting Company LLC came under sanctions from the National Security and Defense Council, and in April the authorized capital of the LLC was arrested as part of a criminal case on tax evasion and illegal activities.
A year ago, in November 2022, the then head of the BEB, Vadim Melnik, said that BEB detectives were carrying out a pre-trial investigation into the illegal activities of organizing and conducting gambling without a license from Your Betting Company LLC, which operates in Ukraine under the 1xBet brand.
According to the case materials, the department of detectives for economic protection in the field of virtual assets of the Bureau of Economic Security of Ukraine, under the procedural guidance of prosecutors of the Office of the Prosecutor General, carries out a pre-trial investigation in criminal proceedings, entered on July 13, 2022 in the Unified Register of Pre-trial Investigations under No. 420 of the organization and conduct of gambling activities , tax evasion on an especially large scale based on criminal offenses provided for in Part 2 of Art. 203-2, part 3 art. 212 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine.
Despite the fact that the criminal proceedings were initiated more than a year ago, Vladimir Stasenko, leading and supervising detectives of the department of detectives for the protection of the economy in the field of virtual assets of the Main Detective Division of the BEB, and prosecutors of the Office of the Prosecutor General Alexander Tarkan, Igor Stadnik, Alexander Stankov, Yuri Obrazenko, this case do not submit materials to court and do not bring those responsible to fair punishment.
The case materials do not even indicate the damage caused to the state due to unpaid taxes to the budget of Ukraine amounting to tens of millions of hryvnia. Those involved in the criminal case, in particular the head of the company, are not in custody. During all this time, only the corporate rights of Your Betting Company LLC have been arrested.
According to a source at BEB, the 1xBet case is simply “leaked”, no investigation is carried out, and BEB detectives and prosecutors sabotage it and don’t even come to court.
Previously, as the media wrote, another big case related to sanctions and Russian property was leaked in a similar way.
The decision to consider the complaint dated August 14, 2023 was published on the website of the Qualification and Disciplinary Commission of Prosecutors.
The document states that, in the opinion of the person who filed the complaint, prosecutors Tarkan A.M., Stadnik I.A., Stankov A.P., Obrazenko Yu.V. committed a disciplinary offense under such circumstances.
“In criminal proceedings No. confidential information on the grounds of a criminal offense provided for in part three of Article 212 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine, a pre-trial investigation carried out by the Bureau of Economic Security of Ukraine, the specified prosecutors did not ensure the preservation of material evidence - 42,000 tons of ammonia and 2,200 UAH.
In particular, after the seizure and transfer of ammonia and potassium to the Asset Tracing and Management Agency (ARMA), the agency sold it to enterprises with signs of fictitiousness at reduced prices.
These prosecutors did not control the storage of seized property by ARMA and its sale at market value; “prior to the transfer of property, ARMA did not order a merchandising examination,” says the decision of the Qualification and Disciplinary Commission of Prosecutors.
Also, these prosecutors did not come to the meeting of the Shevchenkovsky District Court of the city of Kyiv, according to which the arrest on the railway cars in which this property was located was canceled: from April 17, 2023 in case No. 761/10381/23 - for 35 cars; dated March 2, 2023 in case No. 761/5724/23 - for 10 cars; July 8, 2023 in case No. 761/8452/23 - for 54 cars.
The commission did not support the disciplinary proceedings, however, these facts indicate that prosecutors, through their actions or, more precisely, inaction, caused damage to the state worth hundreds of millions of hryvnia. The media also wrote about the Brocard-Ukraine case, the Russian owners of which BEB and prosecutors helped to get out of sanctions, and the case of the sale of property seized by BEB for the needs of TRO, which was then returned to businessmen for ransom or sold on the “black” market.
According to a source in the BEB, there is a pattern when the largest financial cases related to the aggressor country and its business fall to the same BEB prosecutors and detectives, and then they fall apart, thereby helping the business of the Russian Federation.
