Kazakhstan’s Financial Monitoring Agency has placed two foreign nationals on an international wanted list. They are wanted for organizing an illegal online gambling network in the country. Authorities have identified the suspects as 56-year-old US citizen Dmitry Druzhinsky and 41-year-old Ukrainian citizen Marina Levkovich, also known as Ginzburg.
Kazakh media, including The Caspian Post, report that a local court has approved their arrest in absentia. The court authorized pretrial detention, allowing authorities to continue investigations and ensuring the suspects cannot evade justice.
Investigators say Druzhinsky and Levkovich played a central role in managing and coordinating online gambling operations under the PIN-UP and PINCO brands. They conducted these activities through a network of affiliated companies registered outside Kazakhstan. This structure allowed them to bypass local regulations while still reaching Kazakh players and customers.
The Financial Monitoring Agency stated that the two suspects acted as key coordinators. They were responsible for recruiting accomplices and liaising with payment providers and secondary banks. They also helped build the complex payment infrastructure used to process deposits, withdrawals, and transfers across multiple jurisdictions.
To conceal the illegal operation, the network reportedly created a local entity called Bonami LLP. This company obtained a bookmaker license. Companies such as Gold Pay, Cyber Pay, and Pinnacle Financial Solutions handled payment processing and functioned as payment aggregators.
The suspects reportedly routed client funds through affiliated e-money-licensed firms. They pooled the money in transit accounts and then converted it into cryptocurrency. This process further obscured the flow of money and helped them evade regulatory oversight.
Authorities in Kazakhstan continue to investigate the broader network. They are seeking international cooperation to apprehend the suspects and dismantle the operation completely. The case shows the growing sophistication of online gambling schemes. It also highlights the challenges regulators face in monitoring cross-border financial networks that exploit gaps in licensing, banking, and compliance systems.
