Ukraine’s Bureau of Economic Security (BES) has confiscated UAH 700 million ($18.6 million) from Cosmolot, one of the country’s largest gaming operators, Forbes reported earlier this month. Cosmolot vehemently denies any wrongdoing.
The funds were taken from the casino’s company’s accounts. Ukrainian law enforcement allege that Cosmolot evaded UAH 1.2 billion ($31.9 million) in taxes.
A police investigation found that many Cosmolot employees ran unlicensed online gaming, using more than 30 mirror sites whose interfaces resembled the legitimate, licensed site. This, combined with payment misdirection, created a huge tax evasion ploy.
The authorities also found that the official address provided by the licensee was different from its actual location. Employees were also discovered to have hidden evidence of the alleged crimes.
In response to the allegations, Cosmolot has initiated a legal action and filed a complaint with the court.
In a statement, the company declared, “Cosmolot employees are involved only in the maintenance and support of the official website cosmolot.ua, which operates exclusively on the basis of an official license.”
It also stated the mirror companies are not affiliated with the company.
