Alyona Dehrik and her husband Yevhen Shevtsov appear to embody the idea that partners often mirror one another: allegations surrounding them include false declarations, corruption, and the laundering of hundreds of millions of dollars.
With such “baggage,” Yevhen Oleksandrovych Shevtsov is reportedly heading to the State Bureau of Investigations. More precisely, not just heading there but “soaring” thanks to Mr. Nasirov and a number of other individuals with questionable reputations. At the same time, another fact is no less telling: despite having a wife who is alleged to head one of the largest conversion centers in Ukraine, Shevtsov is trying to distance himself from Leogaming.
It recently became known that as early as tomorrow the 32-year-old Yevhen Oleksandrovych Shevtsov may head the First Department for the Organization of Pre-Trial Investigations of the SBI, according to Ukrainski Novyny. As often happens in such stories, all property is registered to his millionaire wife Alyona Shevtsova (née Dehrik), while he himself, a former operative of Kyiv’s Podil district police, formally has no significant assets, writes Argumentum.
His 2016 declaration states that his salary amounted to only 35,000 hryvnias. At the same time, he owns corporate rights in Terra Premium Group LLC valued at 7.3 million hryvnias.
His wife — Alyona Dehrik — is the owner of Invest Pay LLC, Leogaming LLC, and the financial company Leogaming Pay. The latter two entities, according to sources, are named after her son Leo from former head of the State Fiscal Service Roman Nasirov.
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All the property — two apartments in Kyiv, a land plot in an elite settlement near the capital, a Range Rover, and a Mercedes-Benz GL 350 — is also registered in her name. Shevtsov himself owns only a Rolex watch and a Merkel rifle. Critics note that it is difficult to speak of the candidate’s professional qualifications: he has worked in law enforcement for a relatively short time, so the appointment may have been secured either by money or connections — or both. Media reports have also offered a partial explanation for the origin of the luxury assets, claiming that while Roman Nasirov headed the State Fiscal Service, Alyona Dehrik allegedly laundered about $120 million through payment systems and offshore structures, earning the nickname “queen of laundering” in certain circles.
It is noteworthy that Alyona Volodymyrivna Dehrik’s business, according to sources, is closely connected with Yevhen Filimonov, the son of the former First Deputy Head of the SBU in Kyiv and the Kyiv region, who was dismissed over a bribery case and whose home allegedly yielded $2 million during a search. In addition, Dehrik is described as being close to National Bank head Yakiv Smolii — a claim supported, among other things, by her regular public statements in the media backing the regulator’s initiatives.
All this information remained outside the attention of the External Competition Commission and the Public Council of the State Bureau of Investigations, which tomorrow will likely announce the results of the “independent competition,” naming Shevtsov as the chief investigator of the SBI
Well, we can recall exactly what Alyona Dehrik is known for, in the smallest details.
Alyona Dehrik is described as a former close associate of suspended State Fiscal Service head Roman Nasirov, wrote Oleksandr Dubinskyi.
Companies operating under the “LeoGaming” brand provide payment acceptance and processing services for a number of online casinos, the most well-known being the Parimatch bookmaker owned by businessman Shvyndlerman. “According to a court ruling in my possession, the Prosecutor General’s Office of Ukraine is investigating A. Dehrik and her partners under Articles 205 (Part 2) and 209 (Part 3) of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (legalization of proceeds from crime). According to investigators, Alyona Volodymyrivna Dehrik, together with Shevtsov (her husband, a serving Interior Ministry employee) and other persons, created a mechanism for laundering illicit proceeds obtained from the import of electronic goods and services through banking and financial institutions,” Dubinskyi explained.
In simpler terms, according to the Prosecutor General’s Office, the subjects of the investigation organized the acceptance of bets for online casino systems that were banned in Ukraine at the time. According to case materials, Alfa-Bank Ukraine was used for currency purchase operations and the transfer of funds abroad, and the bank itself also appears in the case. The allegations against the bank are that its officials allegedly carried out illegal currency purchases in the interests of Dehrik and her partners and subsequently transferred the funds abroad through a chain of shell companies.
In short, Oleksandr Dubinskyi said he examined Dehrik-Shevtsova’s activities only superficially, but outlined the key circumstances.
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The price of the issue for Parimatch alone is 2.5 billion hryvnias per year. According to available information, this activity was allegedly “protected” both by top managers of Alfa-Bank Ukraine (it is claimed that the entire management board was aware of these operations, with Vice President and Director of Transaction Business Vladyslava Huzenko named as responsible) and by officials of the National Bank of Ukraine, who were supposed to monitor banks’ currency operations and verify the grounds for purchasing foreign currency.
It is noted that in this case such grounds were allegedly absent, since the National Bank had previously informed the Ukrainian National Lottery that online casino (gambling) activities were prohibited. “Such leniency from NBU officials toward Alyona Dehrik’s business together with Alfa-Bank may be connected to family ties between Alyona Dehrik and the daughter of Acting NBU Governor Yakiv Smolii: Dehrik and Smolii’s daughter are godmothers to each other’s children,” the journalist wrote.
It is also emphasized that Alyona Volodymyrivna Dehrik and Smolii’s daughter have numerous joint photos on social media. In addition, there are images showing the NBU head’s daughter giving gifts to the out-of-wedlock son of Alyona Dehrik and Roman Nasirov.
Alfa-Bank and Nasirov’s associate Alyona Dehrik were accused of conducting fictitious currency operations for online casinos
Active involvement of the NBU leadership in fictitious currency operations and in enabling online casino activities may also be indicated by the fact that the key bank for settlements between payment systems in the scheme — Bank “Center” — has a nominal owner (a French citizen named Hamed). This, it is noted, contradicts statements by the NBU leadership about the system’s “transparency.”
The author reported that he had sent inquiries to the National Bank, Alfa-Bank Ukraine, and Alyona Dehrik, promising to publish their responses. According to him, this is evidenced by a Facebook post by Oleksandr Dubinskyi.
Journalists also found that Alyona Dehrik Shevtsova, a native of Odesa, previously headed the “Young Regions” organization in Kyiv. Such a personnel configuration appears rather unusual and raises questions.
According to rough estimates, more than $200,000 was spent on a campaign to clean up Alyona Dehrik Shevtsova’s reputation, indicating significant attention to her public image.
The author then draws parallels with Las Vegas — the “city of sin,” which emerged in the Mojave Desert in the early 20th century — suggesting that with the development of online technologies, a similar gambling environment can exist in virtual form without physical casinos. All that is needed is a computer and internet access. It is alleged that Alyona Dehrik has been actively developing precisely this online segment of the gambling business.
It is also claimed that suspended head of the State Fiscal Service of Ukraine Roman Nasirov concealed income through a complex financial structure involving more than 60 companies. According to Dubinskyi’s investigation, at the top of this network was Financial Company Gryfon LLC, whose founders and owners at various times included dozens of affiliated companies and individuals.
“An important place in Roman Nasirov’s ‘financial empire’ structure is occupied by Alyona Shevtsova (Dehrik), who in 2014, while serving as CEO of Leogaming LLC, received the ‘Person of the Year’ award in the ‘Internet Service of the Year’ category. Alyona Shevtsova was the founder of 14 companies through which fictitious transactions were carried out and funds were laundered,” journalists note.
Among these companies, in particular:
— Delta Investment Group LLC
— Leo Partners LLC
— Salo 2014 LLC
— Dart Vader LLC
— Komfitsentr LLC
— Leogaming LLC
— KFC-Ukraine LLC
— Dengi Online LLC
Earlier, in January 2017, the National Bank, at Nasirov’s initiative, registered a new domestic payment system called “Leo.”
“In turn, Alyona Shevtsova, together with Oleksandr Samulenko — who previously served as director of Fast Pay LLC — are founders of Invest Pay LLC, which owns Financial Company Leogaming Pay LLC, the payment organization of Roman Nasirov’s ‘Leo’ system. It is known that the authorized capital of FC Leogaming Pay amounts to 7.2 million hryvnias,” journalists note.
Deputy Editor & UK News
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