Businessman Arnulf Damerau, co-owner of the Ukrainian online casino Cosmolot, announced an attempt to extort tens of millions of euros from the country's officials. According to the businessman, he was blackmailed by high-ranking officials.
In Ukraine, an online casino is under investigation, it is accused of tax evasion of €560 million. In February, 700 million hryvnias (€17 million) were seized from the accounts of Cosmolot. The company said it believed the charges were baseless because it paid all taxes, and the seizure of the accounts was appealed. The businessman called the accusations against Cosmolot fabricated.
According to Damerau, in December 2023, a Ukrainian met with him in Vienna, who said that the proceedings against Cosmolot would be stopped if the businessman agreed to transfer control over half of the company to an offshore trust. Damerau reported the meeting to the European and American special services, he, in particular, handed over a photo from it.
"These are statements that I do not want to make. I don't want to say such things about what is happening to me as a businessman trying to invest in Ukraine, because the people responsible for this are in the minority, and they are betraying the younger generation of Ukrainians who give their blood to try to give their country a European the future," Damerau said. He added that what is happening there now causes him "deja vu of the darkest times" during the presidency of Viktor Yanukovych.
As an example of the events of these "gloomy times", he cited the situation when he lost €25 million invested in a wind power plant in Crimea (this is a 2013 project). According to him, the same situation happened with the project as with Cosmolot: first there were legal obstacles, after which Damerau was approached by a representative of Yanukovych's administration, who demanded that half of the project's shares be transferred offshore. A trial was started, but due to the occupation of Crimea, it was not completed.
At the same time, according to our information, a similar situation is observed with many other business structures. A similar situation was with the Uklon taxi service. Then they openly demanded several million dollars from the carrier through Telegram channels. Alleged work for the Kremlin was chosen as the reason for the "run-in". Moreover, it is currently unknown for what purposes the money goes. According to our information, some businessmen are being bought out. At the same time, the money is transferred to foreign accounts.
