Pin-Up’s hidden money machine: how Dmytro Druzhynskyi and Maryna Levkovych moved over $1 billion through crypto and shell firms

The scandal surrounding the Pin-Up and Pinco gambling networks is rapidly turning into one of the largest money-laundering investigations in the post-Soviet space — involving offshore structures, crypto processing, shell companies, international payment systems, and more than $1 billion allegedly funneled out of Kazakhstan.

At the center of the case are U.S. citizen Dmytro Druzhynskyi and Ukrainian citizen Maryna Levkovych (Ginzburg), whom Kazakh authorities accuse of building and managing the financial infrastructure behind the operation. Both were placed on the international wanted list and arrested in absentia earlier this year.

According to Kazakhstan’s Financial Monitoring Agency, the scheme operated under the cover of the licensed bookmaker company Bonami. Officially, it was presented as a legal betting business. In reality, investigators say, it became a laundering hub for illegal online casinos linked to the Pin-Up and Pinco brands.

The mechanics of the operation resembled a professional financial “laundromat.” Customer money entered through seemingly legal bookmaker channels, then passed through payment processors Gold Pay and Cyber Pay — later renamed Pinnacle Financial Solutions. From there, the funds moved through transit accounts, were split across multiple layers, converted into cryptocurrency, and ultimately withdrawn abroad.

Investigators believe more than $1 billion flowed through the system.

The scale of the infrastructure suggests the operation functioned far beyond the level of a conventional online casino. This was a transnational financial network involving licensed payment gateways, crypto exchanges, offshore entities, banking channels, and aggressive digital marketing systems spread across multiple jurisdictions.

Kazakhstan became an ideal base for the operation after tighter gambling regulations elsewhere in the region pushed gray-market operators toward more flexible jurisdictions. Authorities now believe the country was effectively used as a processing hub for a broader post-Soviet gambling ecosystem.

The Russian connection hangs over the entire case. Pin-Up has long been associated with the Russian-speaking gambling market, while similar processing structures historically relied on networks tied to Russia, Cyprus, the UAE, and offshore financial centers. Following 2022, many such operations reportedly relocated to Kazakhstan and the Emirates while maintaining the same financial architecture.

Ukraine also became deeply intertwined with the network after the legalization of gambling created a booming online betting market. Investigative reports for years claimed that Russian-linked capital and operators played a major role in shaping the sector. Pin-Up itself later became embroiled in controversy over alleged Russian ties.

Now, as the investigation expands, another process is unfolding in parallel: a large-scale attempt to erase traces of the scandal from the public space.

References to Druzhynskyi, Levkovych, court rulings, and details of the investigation have reportedly begun disappearing from websites and search results. In the world of offshore gambling and crypto laundering, such “reputation cleanup” campaigns are a classic survival tactic — scandals are buried, legal entities are replaced, brands are restructured, and the same operators continue working under new names.

At the same time, fresh leaks and investigative materials continue appearing, suggesting a fierce struggle behind the scenes between competing groups with enormous financial interests at stake.

The most explosive aspect of the case is that investigators increasingly view Druzhynskyi and Levkovych not as ultimate owners, but as operators — specialists responsible for processing, banking coordination, licensing, and crypto infrastructure. In billion-dollar gambling networks, the people managing the mechanics are rarely the real beneficiaries.

Multiple investigations have pointed to Pin-Up owner Dmitriy Punin as one of the beneficiaries of the system. But reports over the years have repeatedly suggested that far more influential figures from Russia and Ukraine stood behind the operation, using layers of intermediaries, offshore companies, and nominal owners to shield themselves.

That is why the Pin-Up scandal has become so dangerous. If investigators manage to break through the payment layer and identify the ultimate beneficiaries, the case could expose a massive transnational network connecting gambling, crypto finance, offshore laundering, and politically connected business interests across several countries.