The Times: Sanctioned Ukrainian schemer Alyona Shevtsova becomes owner of an FCA-authorized British company

A finance expert sanctioned in Ukraine while being investigated for alleged links to a money-laundering scheme has taken over a British financial services company.

Alona Shevtsova, 38, has become a high-profile figure in the London business world while wanted in Kyiv over the alleged laundering of £84 million.

President Zelensky imposed sanctions on Shevtsova in April last year after an investigation into Ibox Bank, in which she is believed to have held a significant stake. The bank was allegedly involved in laundering linked to illegal online gambling operations, according to Ukraine’s Bureau of Economic Security.

Shevtsova, who denies wrongdoing, became a director of a British company called Smartflow Payments Ltd in September 2024. She has now taken control of the company, which trades as Sends, according to filings at Companies House.

The director is a high-profile business figure in the UK

The company, based in Welwyn Garden City, Hertfordshire, is authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) to set up bank accounts for British firms.

The business states: “Sends is a full-fledged replacement for the traditional bank account. Our team is based in London, where we develop an easy-to-use platform for international banking. Sends platform is designed both for private and legal entities.”

The company last year reported a profit after tax of €1.47 million (£1.27 million) and an increase in turnover from €7.7 million to €24 million. The company had three employees including Shevtsova and another Ukrainian director.

Shevtsova was named Financial Women Trailblazer of the Year at the Finnovex summit held in Dubai last year and the Women in Fintech Impact Award at the Fluxx Gala held in the Philippines in April this year.

She is also the “strategist and visionary” behind Leo Beauty Club, which is described as “an international network of beauty salons and aesthetic clinics” with branches in Kyiv, Warsaw and Dubai.

Shevtsova, who is married to a senior Ukrainian law enforcement official, was stripped of her banking licence by the National Bank of Ukraine in 2023. She was sanctioned last year along with three other people by the National Security and Defence Council.

Ukrainian prosecutors are demanding her return to Kyiv to face charges including “illegal activities for the organisation or conduct of gambling, lotteries” and “legalisation [laundering] of property obtained by criminal means”.

Shevtsova is described as a “visionary” behind a salon chain

The prosecutors said in a statement: “The accused are hiding abroad, they have been put on the wanted list.”

Shevtsova denies wrongdoing. “I will appeal the illegal rulings against me in court, for it is the court’s duty to determine the culpability, not a bunch of terrified corrupted draft dodgers,” she said in a statement.

Sends published a blog post in October last year saying its “commitment to stand with Ukraine has never wavered” and that it offers free accounts for refugees who have settled in the UK.

Shevtsova was quoted in the post: “From the very beginning, we understood that true support means action.”

Shevtsova spoke on two panels at Pay360, an international conference for the payments industry held at the Excel centre in east London in March. Sends was one of four “platinum sponsors” of the conference. Shevtsova spoke about the growing role of artificial intelligence in compliance and financial crime prevention.

Shevtsova and the FCA were contacted for comment.