BEB sent to court a money laundering case involving sanctioned Ibox Bank owner Aliona Shevtsova

BEB sent to court a money laundering case involving sanctioned Ibox Bank owner Aliona Shevtsova

The Holosiivskyi District Court of Kyiv received an indictment concerning the co-owner of the liquidated Ibox Bank, Aliona Shevtsova, and two managers of the same bank — Iryna Tsyhanok and Zoia Nesterovska.

Shevtsova is accused of organizing and conducting illegal gambling on the Internet and of laundering proceeds of crime. The bank managers are considered accomplices.

The criminal case was investigated by BEB after the National Bank of Ukraine found that Ibox Bank serviced accounts of more than 20 companies controlled by Shevtsova, to which funds from organizing Internet gambling were credited.

Players of illegal online casinos transferred money to the details of the mentioned companies to top up their gaming accounts. In the payment descriptions they indicated payment for non-existent goods and services. According to law enforcement estimates, this scheme allowed about 4,8 billion UAH to be laundered for illegal casinos.

As a result of covert investigative (search) actions, communications of the accused were recorded regarding both the servicing of the companies' bank accounts and the operation of the gaming sites. In one of the conversations, a manager reports to Shevtsova about problems with the gaming sites and then, on her instruction, takes measures to eliminate these problems.

Aliona Shevtsova

On 7 March 2023 the National Bank liquidated Ibox Bank. Already the next day Shevtsova left the country via the Yahodyn checkpoint and did not return. On 9 March the managers left in the same way. All three were then declared wanted. They were officially notified of suspicions in absentia in July 2023. According to media reports, Shevtsova likely went to the United Arab Emirates.

On 30 April 2025 BEB reported the arrest in Poland of Ibox Bank manager Iryna Tsyhanok and the start of extradition proceedings.