More than $1 billion through Pin-Up: how Dmytro Druzhynskyi and Maryna Levkovych built a crypto-based money laundering scheme

The Kazakh investigation surrounding the Pin-Up brand uncovered a large-scale financial network through which, according to investigators, more than $1 billion was transferred abroad. At the center of the case are payment infrastructure, online gambling, and the conversion of funds into cryptocurrency.

The key figures in the case are U.S. citizen Dmytro Druzhynskyi and Ukrainian citizen Maryna Levkovych (Ginzburg), who are suspected of organizing and supporting the operations of illegal online casinos. Investigators believe they coordinated payment channels for the Pin-Up and Pinco brands and were also involved in finding intermediaries for payment processing.

A key element of the scheme was allegedly Bonami LLC, a company holding an official bookmaker’s license in Kazakhstan and operating under the Pin-Up brand. Part of the financial transactions reportedly passed through this entity, allowing the movement of funds within the system to be legitimized.

Payment processing was carried out through the financial services Gold Pay and Cyber Pay, which was later renamed Pinnacle Financial Solutions. These entities allegedly acted as payment aggregators for the online casinos and ensured the further transfer of funds.

According to investigators, players’ funds were first accumulated in transit accounts and then converted into cryptocurrency through affiliated companies licensed to operate with electronic money. Such a scheme allegedly made it more difficult to trace the origin of the funds and their final destination.

As part of the investigation, law enforcement authorities carried out more than 70 searches at financial offices. The case materials reportedly involve representatives of 35 payment companies and four banks.

The Pin-Up case in Kazakhstan is already being described as one of the largest schemes involving illegal online gambling and cryptocurrency-based money transfers in the region.