The collapse of Ibox Bank: can the notorious Alyona Dehrik-Shevtsova escape punishment?

The collapse of Ibox Bank: can the notorious Alyona Dehrik-Shevtsova escape punishment?

When Alyona Shevtsova took over the leadership of IBOX BANK, media reports highlighted that her efforts played a significant role in the bank’s impressive rise. By the end of the previous year, the bank had secured the eighth position among the most profitable banks in Ukraine, a notable achievement considering the ongoing conflict in the country.

Jumping a bit ahead, we can say that all this frenetic activity led to IBOX BANK losing its license on March 7, 2023 — the NBU decided to liquidate the bank due to "systematic violations of financial monitoring requirements".

The touted "successes" of the bank were associated with the energetic activities of Alyona Shevtsova, who, according to seemingly sponsored materials, was able to rescue IBOX BANK from a financial chasm due to her professionalism.

However, some nuances of Shevtsova’s professional and career growth, which lean more towards an impressive prison term in distant places rather than a "banker of the year" award, are omitted in blatantly commissioned articles. 

This is because last year’s success was driven by Shevtsova’s need for a personal bank to support her LEO payment system. This is the story behind the success (and subsequent downfall) of IBOX BANK.

Note: Alyona Shevtsova founded the financial company "Leogaming Pay" in 2013. Initially, Alyona’s business was not a full-scale payment system. It was more like a gateway between players and gaming platforms. However, the company experienced rapid growth, and by 2017 Shevtsova registered the domestic payment system "Leo" with the National Bank, which a few years later became international.

Numerous criminal cases, in which IBOX BANK also features, are associated with this payment system owned by LLC "Financial Company Leo". 

IBOX BANK came into existence 30 years ago – in 1993. At that time, it bore the rather ominous name "Authority Bank". Only in 2002 did the owners rename it "Agrocombank", and it became "Ibox Bank" 14 years later, in 2016, after financier Yevheniy Berezovskyi, with a murky reputation, joined the shareholders. He brought with him a network of iBox payment terminals, which gave the bank its new name.

However, this didn’t help the bank, as it was spiraling towards the abyss. But then Shevtsova appeared on the horizon, needing a pocket bank to develop her own LEO payment system. In 2020, she became a bank shareholder, and in 2022, she headed it. She brought with her management from her various companies, which are quite interconnected and form a rather entangled system.

But the point is, all these companies are implicated in numerous criminal cases involving corruption, illegal money laundering, and facilitating the activity of illegal online casinos. This payment system was devised for this very purpose in 2013. 

Currently, despite the difficulty of working with court registries amid a full-scale conflict, it is known that Alyona Shevtsova or the managers of companies where she is a beneficiary figure in the following criminal proceedings:

- №32013110000000298, Article 369 of the Criminal Code "Offer, promise, or provision of illegal benefits to an official";

- №32017100000000066, Article 205 of the Criminal Code "Fictitious entrepreneurship", Article 190 of the Criminal Code "Fraud", Article 212 "Evasion of taxes, duties (mandatory payments)";

- №42017000000002925, Article 209 "Legalization (laundering) of property obtained by criminal means", Article 205 of the Criminal Code "Fictitious entrepreneurship";

 №42018101060000202, Article 190 "Fraud", Article 361 "Unauthorized interference with the operation of information (automated), electronic communication, information and communication systems, electronic communication networks";

- №42019000000000526, Article 171 "Obstruction of legitimate professional activities of journalists", Article 182 "Violation of the inviolability of private life", Article 255 "Creation, leadership of a criminal community or criminal organization, as well as participation in it", Article 364 "Abuse of power or official position", Article 368-2 "Illegal enrichment", Article 387 "Disclosure of data from operational and investigative activities, pre-trial investigation". In this "bouquet", the main figure was Shevtsova’s husband, a high-ranking police officer, Yevheniy Shevtsov.

As you can see, it’s an impressive set. Some criminal cases have been closed, while others are still being investigated. Well, "investigated" as is common in our country, where money bags feature; cases hang in the Unified State Register of Court Decisions but are sluggishly moving towards collapse or closure.

What is happening at IBOX BANK under Alyona Shevtsova’s leadership is revealed by the following excerpts from court decisions found in the registries.

On 22.01.2022, the Holosiivskyi District Court of Kyiv saw no administrative offense in the actions of officials of PJSC "IBOX BANK", who, in response to a request during an on-site inspection by the NBU on combating money laundering, hid transactions worth 7.5 billion UAH with LLC "FINANCIAL COMPANY LEOGAMING PAY", and the officials of PJSC "IBOX BANK" tried to hide transactions worth over 14 billion UAH, plus they did not provide information on merchants for specific MCC codes.

In 2021, the Financial Company "Leogaming Pay" won a lawsuit for 100,000 UAH in compensation from journalists for publishing false information that harmed business reputation. The "false information" was a publication dated 28.10.2020 titled: "Pro-Russian Telegram Channels ’Resident’ and ’Legitimniy’ Protect Illegal Business", which contained the following quote: "The company LLC ’FC "Leogaming Pay"’ last year processed 262 million UAH in money transfers for replenishing accounts in illegal online casinos and bookmaker companies".

The court ruling contains a gem: "The plaintiff attached to the case materials a list (register) of all counterparties (the maintenance and publication of which is required by legislation in the field of financial activity) with whom the Limited Liability Company ’Financial Company Leogaming Pay’ maintains business relations. Among the specified counterparties, in particular, is PJSC JSB ’Ukrgasbank’, ME ’Kyivtransparkservice’, ME ’Kharkivparkservice’, PJSC ’PF Ukraine’, PJSC ’Kyivstar’, PJSC ‘Bank Familny’, ME ’Parking and Market’ of the Chernihiv City Council, PJSC ’Ibox Bank’, PJSC ’First Investment Bank’. From the specified list, it cannot be concluded, and the defendant has not proven, that all counterparties or at least some of them are associated with gambling, particularly illegal online casinos."

On 22.06.2022, the same "Leogaming" won another case in the second instance, where they forced journalists to remove the "false" publication titled "Working for Russia, Offshores, and ’Wholesale Computer Trading’: How Online Casinos Operate in Ukraine. Alyona Dehrik Shevtsova), Ibox Bank (ibox terminals), and others - Where the Money from Online Casinos in Ukraine Goes".

The journalists sought to recover another million hryvnias of "moral compensation", but the court denied this part of the claim.

Within the context, it is interesting to note the story of the fine from the NBU, which IBOX BANK received in October 2021 for inadequate client checks and violations of the requirements of the Law of Ukraine "On Prevention and Counteraction to Legalization (Money Laundering) of Proceeds from Crime, Terrorism Financing, and Financing of the Proliferation of Weapons of Mass Destruction".

The bank received the highest possible fine of 10 million UAH. It was initially set to challenge it in court, but they reconsidered — perhaps realizing it was better to quietly pay 10 million and not lose billions.

Incidentally, at the same time, "FC LEOGAMING PAY" was fined 549 thousand UAH for violations of the same law concerning inadequate risk management.

In 2021, IBOX BANK obtained a license from the Commission for Regulation of Gambling and Lotteries of Ukraine (CRGL) to accept payments in favor of internet casinos and a license for "business activities in the gambling sector". So from this perspective, everything seemed fine.

But the day before yesterday, the "success" story reached a logical conclusion: IBOX BANK lost its license, and the National Bank decided to liquidate it. The next day, on March 8, IBOX BANK was searched. 

The decision to liquidate the bank was made on the same grounds on which IBOX BANK was fined in October 2021 — violations of the requirements of the Law of Ukraine "On Prevention and Counteraction to Legalization (Money Laundering) of Proceeds from Crime, Terrorism Financing, and Financing of the Proliferation of Weapons of Mass Destruction". 

Apparently, a year ago, when Russia’s "world view" ended, Shevtsova didn’t realize that the situation had drastically changed and that they could no longer get away with a trifling (in the context of money transfers to Russia) fine. They continued "making money".

In light of the above, we await further remarkable developments in the plot. It will be especially interesting to learn about the cooperation with the Russian federation and the transfer of money to Russia through Shevtsova’s payment systems, which IBOX BANK tried to deny with such fervor just a few days ago.