16.04.2025 Cybercrimes Money laundering

How Alyona Shevtsova is stealing from Ukraine under the noses of regulators

Alyona Degryk-Shevtsova, co-owner of the liquidated Ibox Bank and founder of the Leogaming Pay payment system, is associated with large-scale money laundering schemes, tax evasion, servicing Russian online casinos, and transferring capital offshore. Despite NSDC sanctions, criminal proceedings, and an international wanted list, Shevtsova’s structures continue to operate, and Ukrainian regulators seem to be in no hurry to stop them.

Start of Shevtsova’s business

In 2010, the financial company LeoGaming appeared, which initially acted as an intermediary between players and gaming platforms. In 2013, the business transformed into Leogaming Pay Financial Company LLC, and in 2017, Shevtsova registered the domestic payment system Leo with the NBU, which later received the status of an international one.

At first glance, this is a success story. But the shiny facade hid shady schemes that attracted the attention of law enforcement. Between 2016 and 2020, Shevtsova, along with her husband Yevhen Shevtsov and partners Viktor Kapustin and Vadym Hordievskyi, ran at least ten companies, most of which were involved in criminal proceedings on fraud, money laundering, and fictitious business.

Ibox Bank and Leogaming: the heart of a financial empire

Shevtsova’s key assets were Isobox Bank and Leogaming Pay Financial Company LLC. Ayboks Bank became a tool for implementing so-called misdirection schemes – a practice where the merchant code set by the bank does not correspond to the actual business activity. For example, transactions with online casinos were disguised as purchases of computer games or flowers, which allowed them to avoid taxation. According to the Economic Security Bureau, more than UAH 5 billion was laundered through banks for illegal casinos. The schemes used 2 million bank cards, 120 payment terminals, and dozens of controlled companies.

At the same time, Leogaming Pay processed payments for online casinos banned in Ukraine, such as 1xBet, Leon, Favorit, Pari-Match, Cosmolot, Wulkan777, and others. According to the investigation, the daily turnover of such transactions reached UAH 20 million, and the annual turnover was USD 350 million. Some of these funds were transferred offshore, in particular through Russian payment systems such as Webmoney, Yandex.Money, QIWI Wallet and Wallet One.

In 2017, Shevtsova’s companies, including LeoPartners, came under suspicion for making transfers to the occupied territories of Ukraine. The money was converted into foreign currency, cashed out, and moved offshore.

In March 2023, the National Bank of Ukraine revoked the license of Ayboks Bank due to systematic violations in the field of financial monitoring. The regulator found that the bank did not check clients who organized gambling, including sports poker. Over two years, the bank received 28 fines from VISA, had its operations suspended twice, and was fined UAH 10 million by the NBU.

In the same month, the National Security and Defense Council imposed sanctions against Leo Financial Company LLC and related companies: Cyprus-based LeoPartners and British Electronic Payment Solutions Ltd. The reason was the processing of payments with Russian payment cards.

On April 12, 2025, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy signed a decree on new sanctions against Shevtsova, including asset freezes and a ban on doing business in Ukraine. However, Shevtsova managed to flee to the United Arab Emirates much earlier, where she currently lives in a luxury villa with a rental value of more than $250,000 per year.

Network of other controlled companies

In addition to Ayboks Bank and Leogaming, Shevtsova controlled a network of companies that were used for shady transactions. Among them: Leo Gaming, LBK2019, Leo Education, Invest Pay, more than 20 controlled companies that opened accounts with Ayboks Bank to legalize funds through misdirection, offshore structures such as LeoPartners LLC (Cyprus) and Electronic Payment Solutions Ltd (UK). Among the banks that also participated in the misdirection schemes are Ukrgasbank, First Investment Bank and others.

Criminal proceedings and international wanted list

A number of criminal proceedings have been opened against Shevtsova and her partners, including for laundering UAH 5 billion through Ayboks Bank.

In March 2025, the Lychakivskyi District Court of Lviv allowed the BES to conduct a special pre-trial investigation against Shevtsova and her accomplices Iryna Tsyhanok and Zoya Nesterovska. Shevtsova’s side delayed the process in every possible way, constantly changing defense lawyers and postponing hearings. Through bribery, the investigating judges, with the complicity of the BES, even tried to cancel the suspicion and search for Shevtsova, but thanks to publicity, we were able to counteract this initiative. For this, we received media attacks that continue to discredit us and our human rights activities: a number of paid-for articles with outright lies and fabrications are published daily on websites and telegram channels – dumps. But what’s the point?

As we can see, Shevtsova actively uses the media to protect her reputation. She is even willing to buy criminal case files from the SBI, the BES, and the SID of the National Police, which she then uses to put pressure on competitors and journalists. It doesn’t care about the secrecy of the investigation or the non-disclosure of banking data.

Why are the regulators silent?

Despite the NSDC sanctions, the liquidation of Ayboks Bank and criminal proceedings, Shevtsova’s structures continue to operate. The NBU, the National Securities and Stock Market Commission (NSSMC), and the State Financial Monitoring Service seem to be in no hurry to shut down all channels of her activities. For example, a number of controlled companies have not yet been sanctioned, and related banks continue to process payments.

Since Ukrainian law enforcement agencies and regulators are not demonstrating sufficient effectiveness, we have already prepared complaints to international institutions, including the FATF, the European Central Bank and the FCA, and even Interpol.

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