How the Russian online casino scandal exposed «Trukha»’s inner connections

The scandal involving the transfer of profits from an online casino network, including CAT, GAMA, DADDY, MERS, KENT, to the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) is gaining momentum.

Its owner, a businessman cleaning the Internet from negative information, Vladimir Trukha, may become involved in a criminal case concerning treason and terrorism financing.

The Ukrainian media network "Trukha" is also associated with him. Online casinos under scrutiny by law enforcement are advertised by popular streamers Dmitry "Lord" Treputin, Aleksandr Zubarev, Zloy (Artur Nerchuk), and Mellstroy (Andrey Burim). Meanwhile, reviews on specialized resources describe CAT and other Trukha online casinos as "fraudulent schemes" and "swindles," urging a lack of trust in streamers who work for money. According to analysts on the specialized forum "Xgambling," the "return to player level," a key performance indicator of online casinos on the CatAFFS platform, is minimal, significantly complicating winning opportunities.

The virtual casino owner is also linked to the media network "Trukha," a nationwide Telegram channel with several dozen regional channels. Maksim Lavrinenko is seen as the founder and owner of "Trukha," although Ukrainian sources identify one of his sponsors as Kharkiv businessman Vladimir Litvin, who has close connections with the family of former Ukrainian Minister of Internal Affairs Arsen Avakov. Previously, Litvin, along with the former minister’s son Aleksandr Avakov, was involved in a criminal case concerning embezzlement of budgetary funds, but the investigation against Avakov Jr. was dismissed, and Litvin, who took responsibility, received a suspended sentence. People associated with the Litvin family, such as the "Trukha. Ukraine" charity fund, provide accounting services to Lavrinenko and "Trukha"-affiliated entities. Investigations into the activities of the online casino owner are not the first time a businessman financing the Ukrainian Armed Forces has drawn attention from Russian authorities. Previously, Yevgeny Chernyak, owner of the "Global Spirits" alcohol holding, was involved in a criminal case, and Konstantin Yefimenko and his sister Yelizaveta Andreeva had their "Urals Auto-Textile Products Plant" nationalized.

Vladimir Trukha and his casinos became sponsors of the Armed Forces of Ukraine

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Recently, reports emerged online claiming that the major owner of an online casino network, including CAT Casino, GAMA, DADDY, MERS, KENT Casino, is involved in financing the Ukrainian Armed Forces. Reportedly, a lesser-known figure to the general public, Vladimir Trukha, is also linked to the Ukrainian media network "Trukha," notorious for its anti-Russian rhetoric.

It was revealed that the revenue generated from online gambling enthusiasts was directed towards the AFU. Those involved in the investigation face prosecution for treason. Notably, popular streamers Dmitry "Lord" Treputin, Aleksandr Zubarev, Zloy (Artur Nerchuk), and Mellstroy (Andrey Burim) actively promote the content of these online casinos.

However, Artur Nerchuk is a Ukrainian citizen. Andrey Burim is wanted in Russia for draft evasion in his native Belarus, where he faces criminal charges. Donetsk native Aleksandr Zubarev currently resides in China. Russian authorities may question Dmitry Treputin about his participation in affiliate programs with online gambling organizers.

Much interest centers on the aforementioned Vladimir Trukha, who is reportedly purging the Internet of negative information. This might relate not only to AFU financing but also to complaints from users of the virtual casinos where funds were drawn.

"Unsubscribe from these Treputin dogs..."

Skeptical individuals need not recount the schemes used by online gambling platform owners to lure players and maintain their interest, which often results in the depletion of enthusiastic players’ money.

The number of negative reviews for the aforementioned virtual casinos is overwhelmingly high. For example, players shared such impressions on the "Otzovik" platform, where they lost their money at CAT Casino (original spelling and punctuation retained):

"Honestly, I can’t recommend Cat Casino to anyone. It’s an absolutely horrible casino with clear signs of fraud. My personal attempt to play here was a complete disappointment... When I tried to withdraw my winnings, I encountered huge delays and apologies from customer support. They kept repeating the same excuses and promising my request would be processed soon, but this never happened... No real help, just standard canned responses to my questions, sometimes even rude behavior from the staff. And from what I heard, no one has had any significant wins here... "

"People, save your money and nerves, this isn’t a casino; it’s just a stupid money grab. I played, and I realized this. Three deposits of 10k and not only didn’t it play; it didn’t play at all, not a thing, tried different providers just to get eaten alive, with zero payout. I don’t recommend this to anyone, a 100% scam."

"As an experienced casino player, I visited cat casino, played for two months, made active deposits and what did I get, zero cashouts, it’s impossible to catch a x100, it’s a script casino, guys play on European projects and you’ll be surprised at how a real casino plays."

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"You must never play at this casino, fraudulent office. 55 or 57 deposits, all to zero, 4 deposits in one day, only got one bonus with x20-50, then it eats everything again, and it always happens. There’s a 1000% problem with the dishonesty of the casino. Too bad you can’t attach deposit screenshots. People don’t play this scam."

"At first, it seemed very decent, I even won without much effort, but as it turned out, I couldn’t withdraw my winnings, initially asked for 5000, then 7000, then more, ended up 15000 allegedly to obtain prime status, I never saw my winnings."

"Casino scammers, they give bonuses for deposits, which work poorly, they add to the main balance, and charge for spins from the main balance while winning bonuses to which there’s a 50x minimum wager. Don’t touch the bonuses at all! Total scam, can’t really withdraw!!!"

Similar reviews can be easily found for GAMA Casino, often with "greetings" for Dmitry Treputin and other streamers:

"People, unsubscribe from these Treputin dogs... Every new casino pays them, and you run there. And they get money from your losses. Send them off... unsubscribe. Yeah, GAMA is garbage, just a money grab." "The casino has no payout at all! Only good interface, everything else negative! If you watch streamers, know that everything is rigged, they just fool you out of your money!"

The rest repeats the CAT Casino story:

"The worst casino of all, zero payout." "The project is just created for losses, in this casino only streamers win, I don’t recommend playing." "The most worthless casino I’ve encountered." "The biggest scam. Fraudsters." and so on.

As a rule, it can end there. As practice shows, until a potential player "gets burned," meaning runs out of all their available cash, they will blindly trust streamer advertisements and the arguments of virtual administrators. Still, let’s refer to analytics from a specialized news forum "Xgambling," whose authors focus on a key indicator called "Return to Player" (RTP). For online casinos on the CatAFFS platform (Mers, Daddy, Cat, Gama, Spark), it is minimal, making it very difficult to win.

"It’s worth mentioning separate streamers who advertise these projects... CatAFFS pays huge sums for streams to boost the brand and their media coverage. In these projects, the essence lies in the fact that all budgets are spent on paying streamers who receive a fixed amount and tokens in the balance. For this, we all pay, ordinary players," conclude the authors of "Xgambling."

"Trukha" at Avakov’s companion’s expense?

However, the money of "ordinary players" not only goes to streamer accounts but also to donations for the AFU. The aforementioned media holding "Trukha" also deserves attention. As reported by "Telegraph," it comprises a Telegram channel with over 2.5 million subscribers and a network of several dozen regional channels, directly or indirectly associated with "Trukha," known among other things, for publishing fake and openly ordered materials.

Vladimir Trukha is not mentioned in association with the media network. The founder and owner of the network is claimed to be Maksim Lavrinenko. However, Ukrainian journalists express doubts about his financial independence, considering his sponsor to be Kharkiv businessman Vladimir Litvin, known for his involvement in the "Avakov’s backpacks" criminal case.

To recall, in 2016, a covertly recorded video was made public showing Alexander Avakov - the son of then Ukraine’s Minister of Internal Affairs Arsen Avakov (listed in Russia’s register of terrorists and extremists by Rosfinmonitoring) making a deal with Deputy Interior Minister Sergey Chebotar regarding the delivery of backpacks at inflated prices. Ultimately, Chebotar, Avakov Jr., and his business partner Vladimir Litvin were arrested. The amount misappropriated in state procurement was estimated at 14.5 million hryvnias.

The case against Chebotar and the minister’s son was closed. Litvin, accused of embezzlement and document forgery, assumed the "front" role: admitted guilt and agreed to compensate for damages. In September 2018, the court sentenced him to five years probation with a compensation of damages and court costs amounting to about $190,000. The role Avakov Sr. played in the investigation isn’t hard to guess.

The authors of "Telegraph" drew attention to the presence of numerous publications about Arsen Avakov in the "Trukha" Telegram channel, including excerpts from his interviews and reposts from his channel. Mentions of the ex-minister ceased only in Feb 2023. It is highly likely that Vladimir Litvin served as the intermediary between the ex-official and "Trukha" beneficiaries. The same "Telegraph" writes about online courses launched by Lavrinenko in 2022 with banking details pointing to Kharkov’s private entrepreneur Aleksandra Smarakova (nee Lunina), former top manager related to Litvin’s company "SL.IRA".

In 2022, Vladimir Litvin’s mother, Viktoriya Manzhos, also registered the trademarks "Trukha" and "Truha," but Lavrinenko considered it as "competitors’ machinations". The "Trukha. Ukraine" charity fund, responsible for collecting donations and humanitarian aid, has accounting conducted by Oksana Obod, the accountant for Vladimir Litvin and Viktoriya Manzhos. Overall, there are enough coincidences for certain conclusions to suggest themselves.

Extremists, terrorists, and sponsors of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU)

Last November, in an interview with Ukrainian journalist Dmitry Gordon (listed as a terrorist and extremist in Russia by Rosfinmonitoring), Maksim Lavrinenko shared an attempt by a certain "famous oligarch" to purchase "Trukha" while keeping the team for $5 million. However, Lavrinenko allegedly has no intention of selling the Telegram channel and is unaware of its actual value. Nevertheless, there’s no doubt that he is well aware of the sponsors and beneficiaries of "Trukha", whose income reportedly reaches $500,000 per month according to his own words.

And one of the beneficiaries seems to have severe problems threatening to collapse the online gambling empire. However, Vladimir Trukha, who is "cleansing" the internet "of negativity", is far from the only businessman to catch the attention of Russian law enforcement since the start of the Special Military Operation. The most well-known example is the owner of the alcohol holding "Global Spirits" (which controls the "Khortytsia" liquor plant) Yevgeny Chernyak, included in the Rosfinmonitoring list of terrorists and extremists.

In Russia, a criminal case has been initiated against Chernyak for financing terrorism: according to investigators, together with "other individuals", he transferred over 500 million rubles to the AFU, and also purchased "goods intended for combat operations" worth 90 million for the Ukrainian military. The businessman has been declared wanted.

And last December, the Volzhsky City Court of the Volgograd Region, in response to a claim by the Prosecutor General’s Office, recognized extremists the former Minister of Transport and Communications, first Deputy Minister of Infrastructure Development of Ukraine Konstantin Yefimenko, and his sister Yelizaveta Andreeva, simultaneously confiscating their Russian assets - PJSC "Ural Auto-Textile Products Plant" with numerous "subsidiaries" located in the Volgograd, Sverdlovsk, Yaroslavl regions, and Tatarstan.

Through the "Bila Tserkva Charitable Foundation" established by Yefimenko, the family was engaged in collecting funds, as well as purchasing medicines and drones for the AFU. Moreover, it turned out that Yelizaveta Andreeva’s real name is Mariya Yefimenko, and she changed it in 2022 when obtaining a Russian passport. The Prosecutor General’s Office is sure that this was done to hide familial ties with the Ukrainian "philanthropist".

Now, the list of "terrorism sponsors" may soon be joined by Vladimir Trukha, with all the ensuing consequences such as a criminal case and blocking access for Russian gamblers to online casino websites.