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The owner of Pin-Up admitted to collaborative activities and received a suspended sentence

Boris Bodnar
Boris Bodnar Journalist
The owner of Pin-Up admitted to collaborative activities and received a suspended sentence
In early January 2025, the State Bureau of Investigation detained Igor Zotko Photo: State Bureau of Investigation
The court approved a plea bargain in the case of Igor Zotko, owner of the Pin-Up online casino. Despite proven facts of cooperation with businesses linked to the aggressor state, he avoided actual imprisonment, receiving only a probationary period and financial contributions to the needs of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

The ultimate beneficiary of the Pin-Up online casino, Igor Zotko, pleaded guilty to collaboration and entered into an agreement with the prosecutor, which was approved by the court in mid-January 2026. The case concerns the conduct of economic activities in cooperation with an aggressor state by prior conspiracy of a group of individuals, according to Glavcom. 

The court found that since March 2021, Zotko had been actively involved in the work of Ukr Game Technolodgy LLC, which operated under the Pin-Up brand, and since March 2023, he had become its ultimate beneficiary. The investigation concluded that the scheme involved generating profits in Ukraine in the gambling business and then transferring the funds abroad.

According to the case materials, in 2022, the company received UAH 825 million in revenue, and in 2023, UAH 3.61 billion. Between 2021 and 2024, Ukr Game Technologies transferred UAH 247.9 million in royalties to the Cypriot company Guruflow Team Ltd, which was backed by Russian citizens and their partners. At the same time, this structure repaid a loan of €14.2 million received from the Russian company Fonkor, which paid taxes to the Russian budget and transferred funds to support veterans of the so-called SVO.

On 27 August 2025, Zotko pleaded guilty under Part 4 of Article 111-1 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine. The court sentenced him to five years' imprisonment with a 10-year ban on holding management positions in the gambling business, but the main sentence was replaced with a two-year probation period.

During the trial, it became known that the defendant had transferred UAH 3 million to support the Armed Forces of Ukraine and had also pledged to pay another UAH 9 million in voluntary contributions to the Third Separate Assault Brigade within two months. The court also lifted the seizure of some of his property, including cryptocurrency assets.

As part of the Pin-Up case, the former director of Ukr Game Technology and a former member of the Commission for the Regulation of Gambling and Lotteries had previously received suspended sentences. In June 2025, the Pin-Up online casino lost its licence to operate in Ukraine.

Online casino, Pin-Up, Ihor Zotko, Ukr Game Technology, Armed Forces of Ukraine, Third Separate Assault Brigade, KRAIL

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