Ukrainian cops identify founder of Russian online casino Azino777

The man behind Russia’s online gambling bête noire Azino777 has reportedly been identified by Ukrainian police sleuths.

On Monday, Russian-language media outlet The Bell reported that the National Police of Kiev’s Investigation Department had fingered Albert Marselevich Valiakhmetov, a 33-year-old IT specialist from Russia’s Tatarstan region, as the founder of the Russia-facing, Curacao-licensed online casino Azino777.

Azino777 appeared out of nowhere a few years ago and quickly made a name for itself by its relentless promotion on Russian-language file-sharing sites. The site frequently employed flashy videos featuring Russian hip-hop stars singing/rapping the site’s praises.

According to the report, Azino777 was launched by a Ukrainian company named Royal Game, which Valiakhmetov (pictured above in a 2004-era mug shot for disturbing the peace) reportedly founded in 2014. The following year, Valiakhmetov opened an account under the name Royal Game at a Kiev branch of Sberbank, through which Azino777 transactions were later traced. In 2016, just as Azino777 began ramping up its marketing campaign, Valiakhmetov reportedly deleted all his social media accounts.