Scandal-ridden banker Alyona Shevtsova, suspected of laundering billions for illegal casinos, is preparing to return to Ukraine

The owner of Ibox Bank, Alyona Shevtsova, who became a suspect in an investigation by the Bureau of Economic Security (BES) and was placed under sanctions by the National Security and Defense Council (NSDC), hopes to return to Ukraine — and may well have grounds for doing so, as her connections reportedly reach very high levels.

According to her official biography, Alyona Shevtsova, born in 1987 in Odesa, built a successful career. She began working at the age of 20 at Igor Mazepa’s investment company Concorde Capital in 2007, but by 2009 she had launched her own business in the legal field, founding the law firm “Leo Partners.” Many of her later companies would carry the “Leo” prefix, derived from the name of her first child, Lev.

As reported by Forbes Ukraine, Shevtsova found her formula for success in 2010 when she founded the financial company LeoGaming, which specialized in financial transactions and payments in video games. The company later even launched its own esports team. However, her real breakthrough came after she created her own “triad”: the payment system LeoGaming Pay (now Leo), the iBox payment terminal network, and Ibox Bank itself.

The latter, notably, is one of the oldest banks in Ukraine — operating since 1993 and receiving its current name in the mid-2010s. It is worth noting that although Shevtsova was the public face of Ibox Bank, according to the National Bank of Ukraine she owned no more than 24.98% of the institution and held the position of Chair of the Supervisory Board. Nevertheless, she effectively controlled the bank’s operations — and did so very successfully. The bank’s net profit rose from 5.2 million hryvnias in 2019 to 598.3 million hryvnias by the end of 2022. However, in March 2023, this seemingly ideal picture was shattered by officers of the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) and the Bureau of Economic Security.

It became clear that Ibox Bank was in serious trouble in March 2023, when on March 7 the National Bank of Ukraine revoked its license, and the next day the SBU and the Bureau of Economic Security conducted searches at the institution. In its official statement, the security service reported that a Kyiv-based bank had implemented a scheme to launder proceeds from the gambling business. The речь concerned so-called “miscoding” — a scheme in which banks alter payment codes to disguise transfers to online casinos as, for example, payments for groceries. This allowed such transactions to be concealed and taxes to be evaded. According to the SBU, funds from 20 affiliated companies were transferred through the bank to gambling websites, after which the money was withdrawn and distributed among the participants. The bank’s annual income was reported at 2.5 billion hryvnias, with a turnover of 180 billion hryvnias. Although Ibox Bank was not named directly, the reference to the recent revocation of its license clearly pointed to Shevtsova’s institution.

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A year later, the Bureau of Economic Security was more explicit, stating that two department directors of Ibox Bank had been arrested on suspicion of laundering 5 billion hryvnias for illegal online casinos. Moreover, three additional individuals, including a co-owner of the bank, were declared wanted — although, according to Ukraine’s Interior Ministry database, this had effectively happened back on March 8, 2023.

In 2025, the investigation into Alyona Shevtsova and Ibox Bank continued actively. Not only law enforcement agencies but also the National Security and Defense Council became involved, imposing personal sanctions against her on April 12.

The Ibox Bank case was referred to court on July 2. Shevtsova’s current whereabouts remain unknown, although in April one of her alleged associates was detained by Polish law enforcement authorities.

Although the wave of suspicions from law enforcement peaked in 2023, Shevtsova had been under scrutiny long before that. Back in 2020, the outlet Mind.ua published an investigation claiming that Alyona Shevtsova (Degrik) may have cooperated with illegal casinos. According to the report, the LeoGaming Pay payment system transferred 262 million hryvnias to a casino and used the Tyme payment system to operate with Russia. This led to threats against the journalist who authored the piece and later to a lawsuit over business reputation — which Shevtsova ultimately lost.

In September 2018, an article by BIHUS Info about a competition for positions at the State Bureau of Investigations mentioned a potential conflict of interest involving then-Deputy Minister of Justice Nataliia Bernatska.

She had voted to appoint police officer Yevhen Shevtsov as head of the First Pre-Trial Investigations Department of the SBI. Journalists found that Alyona Shevtsova’s company “LeoGaming Pay” had ordered a legal audit from the firm Integrites, co-owned by Ruslan Bernatskyi. This was not a coincidence: Alyona Shevtsova was Yevhen Shevtsov’s wife, while Ruslan Bernatskyi was the husband of the deputy minister. This situation was seen as a conflict of interest, which Bernatska should have disclosed and recused herself from, but she did not.

“LeoGaming Pay” was also involved in criminal proceedings related to money laundering and transferring funds to Russia. It is unclear whether this influenced the competition, but Yevhen Shevtsov ultimately did not receive the SBI position. However, this likely did not significantly affect the deputy head of the National Police’s Main Investigative Department, who by 2021 was considered the wealthiest police officer in Ukraine. With a personal salary of 412,000 hryvnias in 2020, his family income — largely due to Alyona Shevtsova — exceeded 90 million hryvnias, with an additional 94 million in financial assets. His declarations also showed Shevtsova’s substantial income: 143.7 million hryvnias in 2021 and 58.3 million hryvnias in 2022.

At the same time, it would be incorrect to view Yevhen Shevtsov merely as a front for his wife, as illustrated by the case involving MP Oleksandra Ustinova from the “Holos” party.

In 2020, after it became known that Alyona Shevtsova had received a non-residential building in Kyiv as a gift, Ustinova stated that Yevhen Shevtsov was unworthy of his officer rank. In response, she faced insults on social media, and an internal investigation later claimed that the officer’s account had been hacked before the offensive messages were posted.

Fifty members of parliament demanded that then–Interior Minister Arsen Avakov investigate the matter. However, instead, in August 2021, Ustinova’s property was seized to ensure payment of 80,000 hryvnias in moral damages to Yevhen Shevtsov. It appears that Shevtsov was considered so valuable to the leadership of the National Police and the Interior Ministry that even a scandal involving lawmakers was not sufficient to remove him from his position.

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Interestingly, Arsen Avakov stepped down as Ukraine’s Interior Minister back in July, but this did not affect the career of Alyona Shevtsova’s husband. According to Yevhen Shevtsov’s own declaration, only in 2024 did he move from deputy head of a department within the National Police’s Department for the Protection of Society and State Interests to a senior operative officer in one of its divisions.

However, Shevtsova’s network of connections is not limited to her husband, and it likely dates back to her activities in the early 2010s. According to some sources, she was involved in political activity at the time and headed the Kyiv branch of “Young Regions,” the youth wing of the now-banned Party of Regions.

Indeed, blog posts on the Liga website from 2013 show Alyona Shevtsova calling on readers to participate in a project titled “There Is an Idea,” a slogan also associated with “Young Regions.” There is also information online suggesting that Shevtsova may have been an active partner of former head of the State Fiscal Service Roman Nasirov in schemes involving the laundering of proceeds. Nasirov is allegedly said to have lobbied the National Bank of Ukraine to register the “Leo” payment system.

Shevtsova may also have established connections with former Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko, reportedly through the corporate venture investment fund “Leo Invest Group.” In October 2021, the fund was registered by Shevtsova and businessman Volodymyr Bilousov, and exactly one year later, the ex-president replaced her as a co-owner.

Alyona Shevtsova also actively used her husband’s electronic asset declarations to legitimize her own income. Since 2017, these declarations have repeatedly mentioned a certain Yulia Nikulina, who, according to the filings, simply gifted Shevtsova large sums of money:

• 3 million UAH in 2017

• 240,000 UAH in 2019

• 2.9 million UAH in 2020

• 1.5 million UAH in both 2021 and 2024

In total, Shevtsova received 9.14 million UAH in such “gifts.” Media outlets identified Yulia Nikulina as an Odesa resident who, in addition to being a sole proprietor, co-owned several companies — including LLC “International Payments,” which is now undergoing bankruptcy.

Since November 3, 2015, this company has been involved in criminal case No. 12015000000000601. According to investigators, $10.1 million passed through its accounts and those of related firms, later being transferred abroad, including to companies such as LEO PARTNERS LIMITED. The similarity to Shevtsova’s own law firm “Leo Partners,” founded in 2009, raises further questions.

While it could be dismissed as a coincidence, it remains unclear why a co-owner of a company involved in such a case would transfer millions to the owner of a similarly named firm. This raises the possibility that the funds were being partially legalized through such transactions. Another criminal case, No. 42017000000002925, has been under investigation by the SBU since 2017.

According to investigators, a network of commercial entities used various payment systems — including Shevtsova’s LeoGaming Pay — to enable clients to participate in then-illegal gambling activities, including through the online casino Parimatch. The total volume of legalized funds in this case was estimated by the SBU at $350 million. Among the companies involved was “Business Retail Group” (now “Chinau”), which until December 2021 was owned by Yulia Nikulina.

It is also noteworthy that, according to the Bureau of Economic Security, there were attempts to pressure the court in Shevtsova’s case, indicating that she may have significant connections — although these have not yet produced the desired outcome.

Against this backdrop, the disappearance of certain materials about Shevtsova from the public domain appears unusual. For instance, investigations by RBC-Ukraine into Ibox Bank and Alyona Degrik-Shevtsova related to financial transfers disappeared from the website. Journalists later reported pressure involving IBOX BANK and LeoGaming, after which the articles were removed within a month and a half.

This may suggest that Shevtsova is hoping to return to Ukraine — or may already be in negotiations to do so. One possible motivation is a desire to regain control over parts of the business now effectively operated by her former subordinate, Artem Liashanov, and his payment system bill_line.

Officially, Artem Liashanov is presented as a financial prodigy with 15 years of experience by the age of 34. His main business is the bill_line payment system, which provides online banking services for businesses and operates through LLC “Tech-Soft Atlas.” Since July 27, 2022, the company has been owned by an Odesa resident, Andrii Morgun.

However, Liashanov exited the list of founders precisely at the time when criminal case No. 42021100000000283 was under investigation, in which “Tech-Soft Atlas” was suspected of involvement in money laundering schemes. According to investigators, a company called “Spektr Alfa” concluded fictitious IT service contracts, after which funds were transferred to shell companies.

As a result, between 2020 and 2021, 150 million UAH passed through “Spektr Alfa,” while the state budget lost 11 million UAH in taxes. One of the companies allegedly involved in this scheme was LLC “Hunter 2023,” which conducted transactions in favor of the Parimatch online casino. This same casino is also mentioned in the earlier criminal case involving Yulia Nikulina.

It is possible that these are simply businesses operating within the same niche and serving similar clients. However, Artem Liashanov is not just acquainted with Alyona Shevtsova — he worked for her in 2017. This is подтверждено by the Fintech Ukraine 2017 participant list, where he was listed as CTO of LeoGaming.

It cannot be ruled out that her former subordinate, through bill_line, has taken over a niche of specialized financial services once associated with Shevtsova. This may explain her attempts to return — potentially through negotiations with law enforcement, the courts, and the media, alongside efforts to rehabilitate her public image.