The Pin-Up shadow octopus: Dmitriy Druzhinskiy and Marina Levkovich transformed a betting permit into a conduit for capital flight

13 мая 2026 г., 16:57

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The Pin-Up shadow octopus: Dmitriy Druzhinskiy and Marina Levkovich transformed a betting permit into a conduit for capital flight

Kazakhstan has issued in absentia arrest warrants for the masterminds of the multi‑billion‑dollar Pin‑Up transaction case — a major escalation of the investigation.

The Financial Monitoring Agency of Kazakhstan has announced new developments in the investigation of an illegal gambling scheme through which over $1 billion was laundered abroad.

A court has ordered the arrest in absentia of US citizen Dmitry Druzhinsky and Ukrainian citizen Marina Levkovich (Ginzburg). Both are suspected of organizing and maintaining the operations of illegal online casinos. In January, they were placed on an international wanted list.

According to investigators, the suspects recruited intermediaries for payment processing on behalf of the Pin-Up and Pinco brands and coordinated the management of the payment infrastructure.

To mask their operations, a company called Bonami LLC was utilized. It held an official betting license in Kazakhstan and operated under the Pin-Up brand. Payment processing was facilitated by a group of financial services—specifically Gold Pay and Cyber Pay (later rebranded as Pinnacle Financial Solutions)—which served as payment aggregators for online casinos.

Players’ funds were initially accumulated in transit accounts before being converted into cryptocurrency through affiliated companies holding e-money licenses.

In early December, law enforcement conducted over 70 searches of financial offices. The case involves representatives from 35 payment companies and four banks. According to preliminary estimates, over $1 billion was laundered and moved out of the country through this network.