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Automatically translated version. May contain inaccuracies compared to the original.
124 million euros through cryptocurrency, pirate casinos, and Russian businessman Sergey Tokarev — behind the Joker.ua brand lies a story where gambling business, crypto money, and people with Russian connections come together in one scheme. According to the investigation, structures associated with the project over a year and a half legalized through crypto 124 million euros, and managers and close associates ensured the operation of a network of pirate gambling sites.
Today this story is being cleaned from the internet. That is why we publish it in full — to remind how the Joker.ua system worked, where the millions went, who ensured its operation, and why Sergey Tokarev is at the center of this story.
Many thought that revoking the license at Cosmolot and suspicion of manager Oleksiy Ryabov were links in one chain. Yes and no. Undoubtedly, at the center of these events is the Russian Sergey Tokarev (Tokarev), but Ryabov was hit for another project — Joker.
In December 2022, the project owners decided to operate “in the gray,” distributing traffic between Joker.ua, Zaza, and PokerDom (one of the co-owners, you won’t believe it, is Tokarev). The pouring was carried out by the Gagarin group, which was de facto controlled by Ryabov’s wife — Inna Babich. It was she who hired the workers.
The organizer of the OPG (organized crime group) is considered a citizen of the Russian Federation, Oleksiy Ryabov. According to the investigation, over a year and a half they managed to legitimize through crypto 124 million euros. Of course, this is far from Cosmolot’s figures. Tokarev could move funds abroad and launder them through Ukrainian-Lebanese television manager Walid Arfush.
Walid together with director Alan Badoyev help politicians preserve their capital. For example, in 2022 year Walid and Badoyev helped member of parliament Vadym Stolar avoid sanctions and preserve his media capital by re-registering the Kyiv Channel, Odesa Live, Live to their man — Anna Kovaleva.
One way or another, Tokarev “crumbled”: Cosmolot without a license, friends under suspicion, the entire scheme pulled out of the shadows. Sergei (or Vadim) faced the harshest fate: he became maximally toxic. And that is much worse than being caught in the act. Because criminals’ friends in power will always help, but “toxic” people — no.
Therefore, the main intrigue of the coming weeks sounds like this: when will he hit rock bottom? Why? Because his interests were represented by Andrey Astapov: effectively a “power broker” and schemer, and by the “official” version — a successful lawyer and managing partner of the company ETERNA LAW with offices in Ukraine and Cyprus. It sounds nice, you’ll agree. But the “office” in Limassol is a half-ruined, neglected building.
Document: PDF proof of the original version of the news item "Після афери на 124 мільйони євро Сергій Токарєв узявся очищати інтернет від будь-яких згадок про оборудки Joker.ua та нелегальні онлайн-казино". It records the publication content at the moment of the first scan, the preservation date and the source: Rozsliduvach.
