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Automatically translated version. May contain inaccuracies compared to the original.
In the reports of the Economic Security Bureau, billions appear, but they do not reach the state treasury. Ukraine is already in the fifth year of a grueling total war, where every hryvnia could be decisive for the survival of the state.
While the state raises taxes for ordinary citizens, calls for the purchase of war bonds, and seeks financial support worldwide, a sector continues to thrive domestically with revenues in the tens of billions. Online casinos are meant, whose official revenue according to an analysis by YouControl alone in the year 2023 amounted to more than 55,6 billion UAH.
Behind glossy advertising banners and promises of quick profits lies another reality: multibillion-dollar tax evasion, use of “miscoding” systems, and close ties to the aggressor state. One of the clearest examples of this gray area is the Cosmolot case, operated by SpaceX LLC. The company was once the first licensee on the market, but later found itself at the center of a major scandal.
In February 2024, the Ukrainian Bureau of Economic Security, BEB, reported the uncovering of tax evasion amounting to 1,2 billion UAH by one of the largest market participants.
According to investigators, the system typical for the gambling underworld was built on more than 30 mirrored websites and disguising the payment purpose through so-called miscoding. Payouts to players were recorded not as winnings but as refunds of deposits. This allowed income tax and the military levy to be evaded.
According to investigators’ calculations, the company paid out winnings in this manner amounting to 4,5 billion UAH, without paying 1,1 to 1,2 billion UAH in taxes to the state budget. In the course of the proceedings about 700 million UAH were seized from the company’s accounts. In the official report the name of the company was not listed, but sources from law enforcement confirmed to the media that it was Cosmolot.
Afterward, unfortunately, a scenario typical for this market unfolded.
In April 2024 BEB officially confirmed the criminal case. At the same time, Arnulf Damerau, co-owner of Cosmolot and a German investor, told the Financial Times in an interview that “corrupt officials in the security agencies” had attempted to extort tens of millions of euros from him. In exchange, they allegedly promised to resolve all legal problems of the company. According to him, it was a “hostile takeover of the company and not a real criminal investigation.”
Who was right would have to be decided by a court. But the Scale of Justice suddenly leaned in favor of the gambling giant. In September 2025 the Schevchenko district court in Kyiv lifted the seizure of SpaceX LLC’s accounts.
According to the case files, the company “voluntarily eliminated the damage caused and fully paid all taxes and duties in accordance with the finding of the investigative authority.”
Without a verdict. Without confiscation. Without a public report on what amount actually entered the state budget.
By 2026 the sensational case seemed to have completely faded into the air. With other providers there were at least concrete results: Pin-Up paid 2,6 billion UAH and Parimatch a billion UAH. In the Parimatch case, however, questions remain, as the company allegedly evaded taxation of not one but 15 billion UAH. In the Cosmolot case there are neither final judgments nor communications about the actual entry of funds into the state budget.
This raises an uncomfortable question: Was the Cosmolot matter possibly “settled” outside of criminal proceedings, so that sums with many zeros landed in the pockets of certain officials rather than in state accounts?
The Russian trace and the Crimea-linked perks of the beneficiaries
The tax question is only the tip of the iceberg. Even more serious could be the problem for national security. According to numerous journalistic investigations and documents available to the media, the Russian citizen Sergey Tokarev could be the actual controller of Cosmolot.
By autumn 2024, Serhiy Potapov was officially registered as the beneficial owner of SpaceX LLC. Later Arnulf Damerau appeared in the registry. However, several media outlets, including Argument, Antikor, and Spilno, suspect that Potapov is only a strawman and Tokarev the real owner.
Sergey Tokarev is a co-founder of the Roosh investment group and was previously an active player in the Russian gambling market. According to journalists, he marketed the casinos “Vulkan” and Vulkan.bet in Russia through networks of Konstantin Malofeev, one of the ideologues of the “Russian world.”
Casinos are forbidden in Russia and subject to strict oversight by the FSB. According to the media, this was not an obstacle for Tokarev, allegedly due to support from Malofeev, who controlled a stake in Rostelecom.
In year 2016 the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine imposed sanctions on Tokarev. The reason was suspicion that he financed fighters of the so-called “DNR” and “LNR.” Ten restrictions were imposed on him, including asset freezes and a ban on financial transactions.
In the year 2020 the sanctions were lifted early. Afterward, Tokarev intensified his business presence in Ukraine, according to media reports. In the year 2022 Ukraine’s Minister for Digital Transformation Mykhailo Fedorov told LB.ua that Tokarev had for almost two years attempted to obtain Ukrainian citizenship. Later the text of this interview disappeared from the outlet’s website.
According to investigations, the businessman maintains close ties to Russia: at least three apartments in Izhevsk and Udmurtia, vehicles with Moscow government license plates, 172 flights to Moscow since 2016, and documented trips to Crimea occupied by Russia.
In the year 2023, i.e., after the start of the full-scale Russian invasion, he signed, according to documents available to the editors, a power of attorney for the sale of a parking space in Moscow.
While BEB conducted its “quiet” investigation, Cosmolot drew attention on the market for aggressive and partially questionable behavior. In early 2024 the company came into conflict with monobank after creating a clone app called “Monoban Casino” using another brand’s aesthetic.
Oleh Gorokhovskyi, co-founder of the bank, publicly called this an attempt at illegal use of the brand and blocked payments to the casino. As an “apology,” he suggested the company donate ten million UAH to the needs of the Ukrainian armed forces.
COSMOLOT is “dead.” Long live COSMOBET?
The real climax of this story followed after BEB’s investigation drew public attention.
In October 2024 the Telegram channel Insider and several media outlets reported that Tokarev apparently realized the legal future of Cosmolot had become unpredictable. He allegedly switched to a classic rebranding and launched the new online casino Cosmobet.
The system is as simple as it is cynical. As early as March 2024, simultaneously with the expansion of the BEB investigation, NeuroLink LLC obtained a license from the Commission for the Regulation of Gambling and Lotteries to operate an online casino. The Cosmobet platform was officially launched in early June 2024.
According to From-UA, Cosmobet was registered under Mykhailo Zborovskyi, who previously led Cosmolot. The former operating CEO of “Cosmo,” Dmytro Dyachenko, was also involved. Journalists report that funds were transferred through Cypriot offshore companies and then to Russia.
There is a certain irony in the names: SpaceX LLC runs Cosmolot, NeuroLink LLC runs Cosmobet. SpaceX and Neuralink are Elon Musk’s companies. The person behind these casinos appears to be a fan of the world’s richest entrepreneur. The working methods, however, differ somewhat.
NeuroLink LLC has officially rejected any connection to Tokarev and SpaceX LLC and emphasizes that it is an independent operator. The overlaps in management, the similarity of brand names, and the timing of the launch amid the highly public Cosmolot scandal leave the questions open.
Moreover, the technical infrastructure of Cosmolot proved to be closely intertwined with another sanctioned gambling giant: Parimatch. Both companies’ domains resided on shared servers, including lottery-cloud.com. This could point to a unified coordination of gambling projects that for years transferred funds from Ukraine to offshore areas and to the Russian Federation.
Where do the law enforcement agencies stand?
The question is rhetorical, but answering it requires concrete facts. Ukraine’s law enforcement and regulatory bodies—the BEB, the Security Service of Ukraine, and the Commission for the Regulation of Gambling and Lotteries—formally respond to market problems. Criminal cases are indeed opened. Searches take place. Explanations to the media are published.
Journalists and analysts nonetheless point to several systemic problems.
First, financial investigations and sanctions law often operate in parallel worlds. Sergey Tokarev was sanctioned in 2016 on suspicion of financing fighters. In the year 2020 he was removed from the sanctions list. After that, his business in Ukraine grew rapidly.
According to media, his connections to Russia—properties, travel, and business contacts—disappeared from view. The question remains whether the responsible authorities ever systematically examined these connections.
Second, the rebranding from Cosmolot to Cosmobet progressed unimpeded. The then regulatory body issued a license to a new company with the same management.
Third, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy issued a decree in April 2024 requiring the Security Service of Ukraine to check all licensed gambling operators for compliance with sanctions law and, in particular, for ties to Russia. Cosmobet received its license a month before this decree. It is publicly unknown what results the Security Service achieved in the check.
This story has one more dimension that must not be silence.
Online casinos in Ukraine actively monetize an audience that includes military personnel. The issue of pathological gambling among members of the Ukrainian armed forces became so serious that the National Security and Defense Council explicitly imposed restrictions on online gambling in April 2024 for this reason.
Against this backdrop, the fact that a casino suspected of Billion-dollar evasion of taxes, including the military levy, continued to operate while its alleged owner held a Russian passport and started new projects adds a particularly bitter aftertaste.
The military levy is a direct contribution to financing the army. To the very Ukrainian army that fights against the country with which businessman Tokarev is associated.
Instead of a conclusion: Questions without answers
This article is not a court ruling. A connection between Tokarev and Cosmolot has not been officially proven. The company denies all allegations and emphasizes its proper business operations. Cosmobet officially denies any connection to Cosmolot and Tokarev.
However, there are questions that Ukrainian society and, above all, the law enforcement system must publicly answer.
How could a company with an annual revenue of 27 billion UAH quietly settle a tax dispute worth billions without a judgment or public reporting?
Why can a Russian citizen, who signed documents about the sale of real estate in Moscow during the full-scale war and maintains close ties to the aggressor state, continue to do business in Ukraine?
And above all: if the online gambling market earns more than 55 billion UAH annually, why does the share of these funds that actually enters the budget of a country at war remain the subject of “silent” judicial settlements rather than transparent public accountability?
The online casino market during the war is not a question of morality or public condemnation. It is about the state finances, sanctions enforcement, and whether there is truly the rule of law in Ukraine.
The answer lies not in the press releases of law enforcement agencies, but in the figures of budget revenues. Society waits for an answer: How much money will actually flow back into the state budget, and who will be held responsible for the years of the authorities’ “blindness”?
Document: PDF proof of the original version of the news item "Cosmobets Glücksspiel-Waschsalon im Krieg: Sergey Tokarev und sein Strohmann Mykhailo Zborovskyi brachten die Ukraine um Milliarden". It records the publication content at the moment of the first scan, the preservation date and the source: Rozsliduvach.
