Who and why in Ukraine is «giving» Russians a chance to both profit from Ukrainians and blackmail them.
Hundreds of websites. Thousands of players. And billions of hryvnias. All this is part of a huge network of illegal online casinos in Ukraine. And they are united by a single software, hardware platform, and payment system. It is called Chcgreen. The network is also known under the Champion brand.
They directly and frankly call for you to create your own underground casino. That is, break the law. And they will provide software, payments, support — everything on a turnkey basis. In other words, they are openly tempting you to commit a crime. And, unfortunately, they are quite successful. Details are in the project Hapuha. UA PROJECT.
«I used to work in the gambling business. Why do I have such information and know what I’m talking about? This gambling software was used in absolutely all casinos, perhaps because it was the cheapest on the market. But it appeared in absolutely all facilities in an organized manner,» said Olena Mochalova, a gambling expert.
But for the dealers, oddly enough, this game is not about money. There is something more valuable at stake. According to experts, Chcgreen and Champion are actually a powerful network for covering up dirty illegal schemes. But the worst thing about this fraudulent roulette is that it is Russian. Literally.
«The main office of this online casino, I’m not talking about the server because I don’t know their address, is located in Moscow, Federation Tower, Presnenskaya Naberezhnaya Street, 3. That’s where they are sitting,» said Olena Mochalova.
«They provide ready-made money laundering schemes. No customer checks, simplified conditions. As a result, names, addresses, cards, accounts, debts, dirt — everything goes to Lubyanka. The jackpot. An ideal lever of influence, especially on the army.
«If personal data of citizens are disclosed, transferred to third parties for some personal purpose, personal gain or other, this is even a crime under Article 182 of the Criminal Code,» said Artem Oleshchenko, spokesman for the Cyber Police Department.
The Ukrainian law requires transparency in gambling: identification of players, payment of taxes, and control of addiction. Russia, on the other hand, helps to circumvent this.
So who in Ukraine is «giving» Russians a chance to both profit from Ukrainians and blackmail them, and why? Or are the controlling authorities at least trying to shut down this brazen and large-scale scheme? Or maybe their leaders are themselves grifters and are profiting from it? Let’s find out!
There is a whole bunch of similar clone advertising sites on the Web. They differ only in small details.
The dealers seem to care even more about the earnings of their accomplices than about their own. And tidbits for the organizers are part of the plan. Because the Russian puppeteers need information, not money, first and foremost: who, where, and how much they lost. They give out bonuses to collect dossiers.
The organizers of black online casinos buy so-called «credits» or units, the internal currency of the system, from Chcgreen. Then they resell them to players at a premium.
«1000 UAH is worth 100,000 credits. 100,000 credits are the money you have in the payment system. Your task is to sell them, to exchange them for real ones. You get 10 times more for 10% of the cost,» explained Olena Mochalova.
«You invest a conditional thousand and get a hundred thousand. And now sell them to gullible players for a million. And you get more and more hooked on the deal with the enemy. After all, legal casinos are good for Ukraine: taxes, order, transparency. And the Kremlin pushes them into the shadows: no rules, no reporting, no taxes, no morals. And it is proud of it.
Let’s check how everything works. One of the websites leads us to a Telegram bot. It offers to buy a special code that will allow you to play in numerous black casinos. Of course, it also lures you with additional generous bonuses. For payment, they give the number of a regular private payment card. Of course, without any identification or explanation of where the money came from.
«This is called a drop. That is, relatively speaking, a person is called, given a bank card to open, and told to give it and get 200 UAH, or maybe even 20 dollars. And these cards are used to make billions every day. The turnover can be crazy,» said Ivan Rudyi.
«We categorically do not recommend lending your cards to outsiders. Because no one pays money for nothing. If strangers on the Internet offer to give you access to their bank account or to transfer money through your account, and you will be paid for it, you should not do anything. You need to think about what they are promising me money for,» said Artem Oleshchenko, spokesperson for the Cyber Police Department.
We receive a code that allows us to play in black gambling venues.
But among a number of Champion’s advertising sites, we come across something extremely strange. Several advertising sites directly state that they are implementing the same scheme for a legal Ukrainian casino with a KRAIL license. And its name is familiar — Champion Casino.
And it is indeed an officially licensed casino. And it really belongs to the Limon company.
«If I were a cunning legal gambling operator and didn’t want to pay taxes, although I don’t pay them anyway, I pay them the way I want and where I want, I would have at least two financial companies through which I would accumulate funds. How it works: I register in an online casino, make a deposit, place my bet, this bet is processed and transferred to a financial company. The financial company accumulates it and then transfers it to another financial company or to the final beneficiary,» explained Olena Mochalova.
At first glance, it seems like a law-abiding business with a license. Perhaps it’s just a coincidence, after all, the name is popular? But look, everything here is similar — from the logo and names to the game mechanics. It turns out that Limon LLC, the owner of Champions Casino, owns the rights to the Champion trademark.
To find out more, we asked the co-owner and one of the managers of Limon LLC, Oleksandr Bondar.
«There are definitely different trademarks registered. There are those registered in Ukraine on our legal entities, for example, there is «CH» in the image,» Bondar said.
«That is, a legal Ukrainian casino is called a Russian illegal network. It looks like this. And it works like that. So maybe it’s the same thing? But Oleksandr Bondar assures us that it’s just a coincidence. But the suspicious surprises do not end there.
«Malina LLC, which operates under the Champion Club brand, similarly received a license from the Commission for Regulation of Gambling and Lotteries this year, and accordingly has a bank guarantee, has the appropriate software that is certified, has the appropriate PPO and is serviced by Ukrainian banks,» says Bondar.
Malina LLC is another company from the Champion Casino orbit. It belongs to the same businessmen. As well as the trademarks of the Champions Club project. And that’s exactly what Moscow businessmen who create a network of illegal partners call themselves. Hence the name «Champions Club».
Is it just a coincidence again? But it’s not just the name that matches, it’s also the business model. Online dealers openly offer to buy their software. So maybe the owners of this legal casino did just that, took advantage of the promoted name, registered it as their own trademark, and thus cooperated with the Russians under the «roof» of an official license? And it is possible that this is how the software is distributed and this network is expanding.
«Asset Group sells as a company that has the appropriate license from KRAIL to provide services. It also provides licenses to other legal entities, i.e. legal online casinos. That is why some organizers feature games from Asset Group LLC. Only legal ones,» says Oleksandr Bondar.
In other words, he confirms that his companies do distribute gambling software. However, he suggests taking his word for it — he sells it only to legal players.
«You see, it’s like going to a market, for example, Troyeschyna. And there will be fake Hugo Boss and other things. And we will immediately go to Hugo Boss and ask them why they are selling it on the Troyeschyna market. Well, this is the Internet, it’s very difficult to control,» says Bondar.
That is, there are vile fraudsters who decided to simply pretend to be an honest legal casino to intercept their clientele.
«This is a letter that is sent to CRAIL regarding web resources that allow certain games that can be called gambling without a license. There is a list there, it is formed from the information provided by our security department, the SEO department. They form it and send it to lawyers. I am technically telling you how it is done,» said Bondar.
Could it really be fraudsters who are just setting up an honest casino? It is hypothetically possible. However, the Champion Club project, the Champion platform, and the payment system appeared much earlier, back in the early 2010s. The software interfaces of five years ago are very similar to the interfaces of the current software of the legal Champions Club. Still, maybe it’s just the same thing?
«No, no, this is exclusively Asset Group software, which was developed by Ukrainian programmers without the involvement of any external or, as you say, ideological inspirers. This is a separate software. It was 2020,» says Bondar.
How did programmers manage to create such a complex product in a few months? Are their developers just geniuses? Or did they actually borrow the code from their predecessors? Let’s say no. But there is another inconsistency.
«They do not officially operate under this brand. First of all, there is no legal requirement. They don’t provide it, they can use this image somewhere. They don’t talk about it officially, they don’t put it in the public domain, they don’t advertise themselves as Champion Studio,» said Bondar.
«That is, they have obtained a license, developed a program, registered trademarks, but do not work. And all those who work on the Internet under the name Champion Club are vile fraudsters who want to blacken their good name. It sounds convincing.
We ask Bondar if the word BetRun means anything to him and if he has ever complained about them impersonating your business.
«No. We have never encountered these names or complained about them. I have found CHC Codes in our complaints, but BetRun is not. Perhaps it was somewhere before. Perhaps, somewhere in the scanned documents, I mean in the archive,» says Oleksandr Bondar.
It’s strange that a legal casino doesn’t notice one of the biggest fraudsters. Maybe they are not such competitors? It was only after our interview that this part of the websites was shut down. But not the whole scheme. It is even more interesting to know who is at the very top of this business.
«Champion Casino is the main business model that has been operating since 2021, and Champion Club is a by-product of one of the beneficiary owners, Ruslan Druzdov. He decided to expand this line, i.e. he is an operational manager, he is very well versed in all these models and the functioning of online casinos in general. He understands how to organize it properly, so he is trying to create it. The license has already been obtained and paid for, but there is no active activity yet,» says Bondar.
Ruslan Drozdov obviously does know how to organize everything properly. Previously, he ran the MDL company, which was suspected of illegal gambling back in 2016. According to the registers, Andrii Pokrovskyi is the one who is connected to the company «Kazkovaya Oselya», which is a well-known developer in Lutsk and co-owner of Limon LLC.
Pokrovsky was one of the richest deputies in Lutsk. In his version, he was a philanthropist, patron of the arts, and until recently, an influential politician. And according to numerous Volyn investigative journalists, he was the king of the local gambling world with a long history that began years before legalization.
«Not only a tool of an illegal online casino, but it is not yet an element that honest licensed operators can use in theory to, well, I can’t say that they do, but it is also a tool for tax evasion,» said Ivan Rudyi, head of KRAIL.
And there is plenty to evade: Champions Club is not in trouble. Net income for 2023 amounted to UAH 1.4 billion. But could the state have missed such a goal in its own goal? For some reason, the law did not provide for the authority of the CRC to scrutinize and punish.
«I calculated the numbers, and they match, and the amount is indeed correct. But according to the law, I can’t go to the tax office and ask whether it’s a fake declaration or not. And I can’t refer to the fact that I discovered this by certain actions that are beyond my competence when I refuse to do so. This means that I am already a violator,» explained Ivan Rudyi.
An automated state system of online monitoring of all online casino money flows could have stopped this scheme long ago. However, despite the requirement of the law, it has not yet been launched. Why?
«No matter how many times we apply, no matter how many meetings we have had that there is a problem, there is a solution, let’s solve it and move on… Everything is still at the same point. In one sentence, there is no funding,» says Ivan Rudyi.
Although this could save literally billions of hryvnias in taxes. Why do government officials stubbornly block it? And law enforcement officers, although they regularly catch and even imprison the perpetrators of the scheme, for some reason have not been able to close the scheme for years. Is it just the imperfection of the system? Or is it evil intent and a good roof?
We hope that this game of «I see nothing, I hear nothing, and I won’t say anything to anyone» will stop. After all, during the war, not just budget revenues are at stake, but literally national security.