The Lviv Regional Administrative Court has ruled in favor of the State Tax Service, ordering local resident Oleksandr Markin to pay over 1.27 million UAH (approx. $30,000) in back taxes. The lawsuit followed the discovery of millions of hryvnias in peer-to-peer (P2P) transfers flowing through Markin’s personal bank accounts—funds the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) suspects were part of a scheme to bypass payment bans for illegal online casinos.
According to court records, Markin received more than 5.2 million UAH in personal P2P transfers from various individuals throughout 2023. Regulators at the NBU flagged these transactions as characteristic of «mule accounts»—bank accounts used by third parties to process illicit payments for unlicensed gambling operations. Because Markin failed to declare these transfers as personal income, tax authorities assessed the unpaid debt and filed a lawsuit to recover the funds.
Markin’s defense argued that he holds a disability status and suggested that third parties may have exploited his bank accounts without his full understanding. However, the court dismissed these arguments, emphasizing that Markin was fully legally competent when the financial transactions occurred.
«No evidence was presented to the court proving that the funds received did not constitute the defendant’s income or were exempt from taxation,» the court stated in its decision.
The court upheld the tax assessments in full, legally obligating Markin to repay the entire balance to the state budget.
However, the panel noted that if third parties did fraudulently misappropriate his accounts, that matter must be investigated separately within the scope of a dedicated criminal proceeding.