From illegal online casinos to offshore millions: Maksym Krippa’s criminal business empire

The king of illegal online casinos, porn magnate, fake man, network Ostap Bender — all these nicknames perfectly characterize the life and activities of Maksim Krippa. Thanks to the activities of the illegal online casino "Vulkan", the criminal businessman managed to earn tens of millions of dollars.

As we mentioned in previous materials, Krippa is a very wealthy individual. In Ukraine, according to official data, he owns assets worth a total of about 2 billion hryvnias, which at the current exchange rate amounts to more than 55 million dollars. The most interesting thing about this is the source of the funds. Krippa’s companies declare only losses like a template. Meanwhile, the criminal businessman actively buys property, which, among other things, once belonged to the state. Almost every enterprise of Krippa has its criminal trace. They are involved not only in the illegal activities of the online casino "Vulkan", but also in many corruption crimes, and even in financing terrorism.

Nevertheless, the entire array of criminal cases initiated against Krippa and his companies has not led to lawful completion — he has not been held accountable for dozens of episodes. Krippa’s companies continue to administer the online casino "Vulkan", which now operates under the new brand "Vulkan Vegas". The funds earned through illegal activities are quietly channeled by the criminal businessman to an offshore zone, in Cyprus.

Detailed information about Krippa’s criminal path and offshore empire is available in the Kartoteka report. 

Illegal Online Empire

Most of us remember the era when "one-armed bandits" were legalized. Only after a huge public struggle against the machines that destroyed people’s lives were slot machines banned in many countries.

It is worth noting that the legislation introduced a rather severe penalty for violations of the ban on gambling, but practice shows that rules are made to be broken. The gambling business went into the shadows, law enforcement officers, who were supposed to suppress illegal activities, began to cover for it.

Parallel to this, the Internet was developing. Along with the expansion of the global network’s horizon, online casinos also began to appear. At this time, Krippa, along with another well-known Ukrainian entrepreneur Maksim Polyakov, began developing illegal online games and the porn industry.

Maksim Polyakov

As for porn, it all started with a dating site that Polyakov created in the late 2000s for residents of the Zaporizhia, Dnipropetrovsk, and adjacent regions of Ukraine. As a result, the dating site turned into a porn version of "Chatroulette".

Still, the activity of the online casino "Vulkan" brought more funds to the partners. The success was so noticeable that it even reached Russian oligarchs. The well-known entrepreneur Konstantin Malofeev invested in the enterprise.

Konstantin Malofeev

Malofeev’s ace (besides being a big businessman) was that in the early 2010s, the entrepreneur owned a 10% stake in the telecommunications operator "Rostelecom". This allowed at that time to bypass all blocks of the illegal casino. Everyone received colossal profits from this. As a result, the "Vulkan Casino" spread to many post-Soviet states.

After Malofeev sold his stake in "Rostelecom", it became more difficult for the illegal online casino Krippa-Polyakov to operate, but the addicted clients continued to play. To bypass blocks, the casino created clone sites.

A little later, Polyakov also left the business. Krippa remained the sole owner of the illegal gambling empire. Apparently, the business continues to do so well that only in the last few years has Krippa bought the "Dnipro" hotel from Ukrainian state bodies for 1 billion 111 million hryvnias and a recreation base in Kozyn for more than 300 million.

Offshore Trail

The most high-profile purchase of the online casino organizer was the acquisition of the e-sports team "Navi". This became officially known thanks to Forbes Ukraine material in September 2022. As stated in the material, the deal took place back in 2020. The cost of the acquisition is not disclosed. The Forbes material also provides statistics: over 12 years of participation in e-sports tournaments, "Navi" earned more than 18 million dollars in prize money.

Infographics on the prize payments of the "Navi" team

Despite the company’s huge profit in tournaments prize money, the official financial reporting of "Navi" is far from profitable.

Financial statement of LLC "Navi.UA"

It is noteworthy that, for example, in 2022, “Navi” received more than one and a half million US dollars (about 60 million hryvnias) in prize money. At the same time, the official income of the e-sports team amounts to only 5 thousand dollars. Accordingly, the company simply channels all its prize money directly offshore. The owner of "Navi" is the offshore company "Natus Vincere Esports Ltd". Everything leads back to our "hero" Maksim Krippa. He is the ultimate beneficiary of “Navi”.

Aside from the e-sports team, we managed to establish Krippa’s connection to at least two other offshore companies — "Dareos Ltd" and "Brivio Limited". Krippa exposed himself quite simply. For some reason, he registered the trademarks of his illegal online casinos "Vulkan" and "Golden Gate" ("GGBet"). The trademark owners are precisely these offshore structures, registered to nominees — residents of Cyprus.

Data on the registration of the trademarks "Vulkan" and "GoldenGate"

In total, Krippa legally protected as many as 27 variations of his casino emblems. If there is no doubt that "Vulkan" belongs to Krippa, then what leads "GGBet" to the criminal businessman? It’s very simple. Just enter into the search engine the trademark owner "GGBet" "Brivio Limited". It turns out that this is the company that administers online casinos, including "Vulkan".

Screenshots of the "Brivio Limited" website

All doubts are shattered. Krippa is the owner of several highly profitable illegal online casinos. However, the criminal businessman tries to meticulously hide his connection to gambling. He does it very well, but the truth always comes out. And this is far from all that Krippa would like to hide.

To be continued...