Instead of isolation — applause: how Aliona Shevtsova, sanctioned and wanted for laundering 5 billion, became the face of PAY360 in London

Instead of isolation — applause: how Aliona Shevtsova, sanctioned and wanted for laundering 5 billion, became the face of PAY360 in London

Aliona Shevtsova, a Ukrainian senior manager in fintech who is under sanctions in Ukraine over suspicions of multi-billion fraud, recently spoke at a major compliance event in the United Kingdom. Most attendees apparently were not aware of her background, and her participation and the audience’s reaction demonstrated how compliance standards are applied in practice within the financial industry.

This was reported by journalist Liubov Velychko.

In Ukraine, Aliona Shevtsova’s name is associated with a revoked banking license, active criminal proceedings, and sanctions imposed by the National Security and Defense Council (NSDC). In London she is presented as a fintech expert, awardee, and speaker at one of the key compliance events, where ticket prices exceed £1 000 (about $1 355).

25–26 March, Aliona Shevtsova spoke at ExCeL London at the PAY360 conference — an important industry event supported by the UK Department for Business and Trade and attended by entrepreneurs and law enforcement representatives working on economic crime.

Her company Sends was among four platinum sponsors and had a dedicated booth in the exhibition area. Shevtsova also spoke on two panel discussions.

The Sends company booth in the exhibition area of the PAY360 conference — the largest event dedicated to the payments industry. (Photo: Liubov Velychko)

According to two attendees, Shevtsova spent “quite a lot of money” to participate in this event. The exact cost of such sponsorship is not publicly disclosed.

On the official PAY360 website, Shevtsova is presented as a fintech entrepreneur and panel speaker, including on the discussion “The agentic AI tsunami: revolutionizing compliance via AML and KYC,” where AML means anti–money laundering and KYC refers to customer identification procedures that are part of banking compliance.

The description emphasizes her role in ensuring the resilience of Ukraine’s payment systems during the war and notes partnerships with global companies such as Mastercard and Visa, as well as awards from international organizations and Ukrainian authorities.

Her prominent presence at an event focused on compliance contrasts with how Ukrainian authorities describe her. According to the State Bureau of Economic Security of Ukraine (SBE), she is involved in a money laundering case concerning the misappropriation of over 110 million dollars. Investigators believe this scheme enabled laundering money derived from illegal online gambling.

12 April 2025, the president of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky, enacted the NSDC decision to impose sanctions on four individuals, including Aliona Shevtsova. The case also involves IBox Bank — a Ukrainian bank in which she held a significant stake. Its license was revoked by the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) in March 2023 due to systemic violations in anti–money laundering measures.

This decision was part of a broader campaign against so‑called “miscoding” schemes, where payment transactions were deliberately assigned incorrect merchant category codes (MCC) — for example, masking gambling payments as utility bills or retail purchases — to hide their true nature and avoid taxation.

None of these circumstances — neither the investigations, nor the sanctions, nor the bank’s closure — were mentioned during the event.

Meanwhile, Shevtsova continues to operate in the UK through her fintech business. Her company Sends is based in the UK. Sends is the trading name of Smartflow Payments Limited — a company registered in England and Wales (No. 11070048) and authorized by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) under number 900873.

Over the two days, several thousand attendees passed through the exhibition halls at PAY360 — by various estimates, from 5 000 to 10 000 visitors. The main themes of the event were artificial intelligence (AI) and compliance. Financial crime, as expected for an event of this level, also remained among the key topics.

Against this backdrop, Shevtsova’s team was noticeably active: smiling, greeting visitors, and holding conversations throughout the day, with no visible signs that the controversies around her background were being discussed.

Screenshot of a post on the Sends company page and on Aliona Shevtsova’s page after the PAY360 conference (screenshots from Instagram)

Many PAY360 participants were unaware of Shevtsova’s background. When asked whether a person sanctioned abroad could pass UK checks, most replied that they should not be able to.

“It depends on the jurisdiction… to some extent on who imposed the sanctions,” one attendee said.

“You can’t be convicted of money laundering in one jurisdiction and start with a clean slate in another… that information should be stored somewhere,” another said.

However, when it was clarified that this was specifically about Shevtsova — a speaker and sponsor of the event — most declined to comment, and a second interlocutor suggested she was likely exploiting “gaps” in the system.

“I think she’s just taking advantage of loopholes,” he said.

Her background was not mentioned during the panel discussions, nor were there any references to IBox Bank.

Still, not all reactions were critical.

“Wow. Obviously she has financial flows, and it works, and I think that kind of person understands more than the average attendee. I’d like to work with her,” a third participant said.

In a post after the event, Sends described Shevtsova’s participation as part of broader industry discussions about artificial intelligence and financial compliance. According to the company, she took part in panels on AI‑based AML and KYC solutions as well as embedded finance, emphasizing the importance of combining technological innovation with proper governance and business focus.

This situation reveals a gap between what the global financial industry proclaims about compliance and how it works in practice. Individuals associated with serious allegations can continue to operate within the system — and even gain legitimacy within it. In that sense, compliance risks becoming not a filter but a platform.