Gambling enterprise built on ARMA fraud: how fugitive attorney Andriy Dovbenko launders misappropriated public money through Slots City casinos using a web of shell companies

In May of this year, blogger Igor Lachenkov wrote that the real owner of the online casino Slots City might be a figure in the case of the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine regarding large-scale embezzlement named Andriy. It is likely referring to Andriy Dovbenko, a lawyer who had significant influence on the Ministry of Justice. Previously, journalists recorded that the wanted Dovbenko resides in London. With the help of registries, it has now become clear that the figure in the criminal case may indeed have influence on the gambling business in Ukraine.

This is reported by Antikor.

First of all, Andriy Dovbenko is known for his legal practice. He led the group of law firms "Evris," and in the past was associated with the company "Neocleous and Dovbenko," registered offshore in the Seychelles and Belize. In 2023, the High Anti-Corruption Court in absentia took Dovbenko into custody in a case regarding the organization of embezzlement of seized and transferred property to the management of the National Agency for Asset Management and Search worth almost 500 million hryvnias.

The case involves the sale of land plots in Odesa, sand, urea, and grain crops. In 2023, Andriy Dovbenko was declared wanted.

The case materials mention LLC "Soil Company LTD," LLC "Brante," LLC "N End D," LLC "Law Firm ’Neocleous and Dovbenko’" and LLC "LF ’Evris’." The investigation found that common IP addresses were used in managing the accounts of these firms. Dovbenko had a direct relationship with the last three firms.

Besides legal practice, Andriy Dovbenko has interests in the agricultural business. In particular, six companies can be found in the registries, currently registered at one address in Kyiv, in the Vynohradar microdistrict.

Among them, for example, the Peasant Farm "Maybutne" and the Private Agricultural Enterprise named after Vatutin. In these two companies, Andriy Dovbenko’s business partner was Oleksiy Olenchenko, a lawyer of the now arrested former Minister of Agrarian Policy Mykola Solskyi.

The former government member was taken into custody in a case regarding illegal grain transactions. The case involves the sale of large batches of corn that did not actually exist. The formal owner of the elevator, where the grain was allegedly stored, was Dovbenko’s business partner Oleksiy Olenchenko. During interrogation, the latter confirmed that he was only a formal owner of the companies, while actual control was exercised by the former minister.

An important detail, Mykola Solskyi was among the attendees of the lavish wedding of Andriy Dovbenko with the president of the Association of Lawyers of Ukraine Hanna Ohrenchuk, which they celebrated in 2019 at the resort of the French Riviera Saint-Tropez. The event was attended by many famous people, including the then head of the President’s Office Andriy Bohdan, sanctioned oligarch Pavlo Fuks, developer Andriy Vavrysh, and others.

But let’s return to Andriy Dovbenko’s agricultural business. As mentioned, the firms are registered at one address. Here are also registered LLC "Stellar Assets" and LLC "Notio Group" of Ruslan Nonka.

This name is known in the context of the online casino Slots City. Nonka was also a co-founder of LLC "Gamedev," which registered rights to more than a hundred trademarks related to online casinos. Here is mentioned Slots City, My City Fest, and others.

Previously, LLC "Gamedev" was managed by a certain Roman Bilan. He was also a co-founder of LLC "RK-Owner" and LLC "Finkit" in partnership with an employee of Andriy Dovbenko’s law firm Evris, Dmytro Hron.

Hron manages the closed investment fund "Georgia," which owns the rights to the Finkit trademark. This is a financial company that apparently operates under a franchise. Since firms with the same name specialize in issuing loans and financial assistance, including in Russia and Belarus.

Until December 2023, Dmytro Hron was listed as one of the co-founders of the firm "Horenychi16." Here you can also see the name Roman Balashov, who is the founder of LLC "Citycode." This firm owns the rights to the Beton trademark, under which the online casino of the same name operates.

One of the beneficiaries of "Citycode" was previously Vadym Ahafoshyn, who is also associated with the company "Swanecab," officially known for its activity as a publisher of computer games. Registries attributed the firm to the group of the family of businessmen from Donbas, Emmi and Oleksandr Yaroshenko.

However, initially, "Swanecab" was registered by a representative of the gambling business Ruslan Nonka and co-owner of the ticket sales service Tickets Box Vadym Chernetskyi. Chernetskyi’s business partner is a former deputy from the Party of Regions, founder of the famous music festival "Tavria Games" Mykola Bahrayev.

In 2024, the son of the former Donetsk coal magnate Yuriy Shumakov - Denis, appeared in "Swanecab." Previously, "ANTIKOR" wrote that he is a neighbor at the Yalta dacha of the fugitive president Viktor Yanukovych, as well as the owner of land plots in Koncha-Zaspa, located 650 meters from the estate of the former head of state Petro Poroshenko.

"Swanecab" has the right to the Statbet trademark, which obviously also hints at involvement in the gambling business.

Ruslan Bilan, who is a partner of the lawyer Dovbenko’s firm, is now the founder of the firm "Play Smart." The company owns the rights to the SL Kyiv trademark, which may be one of the abbreviations of the Slots City casino. Moreover, the representative who submitted documents for registration of ownership rights is listed as Anastasiya Synytsya. She also registered the rights to the TM "Finkit" for Roman Hron, and also submitted an application for one of the trademarks of LLC "Citycode," which represents the online casino Beton.

The large number of connections, identical registration addresses, and even joint applications for trademarks indicate that the wanted lawyer Andriy Dovbenko may have a direct relationship at least to the online casinos Slots City, Beton, and My City Fest.

This information can be compared with other known facts. Back in 2021, the media wrote that the Dovbenko-Ogrenchuk couple legally worked on the side of businessman Kostyantyn Zhevaho in a case regarding the embezzlement of funds from the bank "Finance and Credit." Journalists also noted interest in solving Zhevaho’s problems from the side of the former head of the President’s Office Andriy Bohdan, who was at the wedding of Dovbenko and Ogrenchuk. Moreover, Bohdan allegedly had influence on the head of the State Bureau of Investigations Oleksiy Sukachov, whose brother journalists recently found more than 100 real estate objects. And the cherry on top: the opponents of Zhevaho in the case regarding the rights to the Poltava MPP are representatives of the Russian group "Luzhnikovtsy," whose companies were among the first to receive licenses to conduct gambling business in Ukraine.