Favbet of Andriy Matyukha: Monopolizing the gambling market and supporting Russian aggression
Andriy Matyukha, the actual owner of the Favbet casino, tried by all means to conceal the fact of his Russian passport after a loud scandal. Publications with the photo of the document disappeared in a mysterious way, and on 11.11.22, Matyukha’s Russian tax ID was terminated.
Meanwhile, the situation borders on absurdity - only the tax number was excluded from the federal database, but the passport itself is still officially valid.
Obtaining Russian citizenship is easier than losing it. A Russian tax ID can disappear only in two cases - renunciation of citizenship or death.
As we can see, Mr. Matyukha is doing quite well in Croatia, where he fled immediately after the full-scale invasion. This means that the liquidation of the tax ID indicates an attempt to get rid of the shameful stain of Russian citizenship.
The procedure is complicated and tedious, it proceeds as follows: if a Russian citizen is abroad, in this case in Croatia, they can contact the Consulate in Zagreb, where an application must be accepted, after which a long document check begins - whether there are debts, whether they are under investigation or wanted, whether there are minor children or people on alimony, etc.
Only after that, Putin can sign a declaration on renunciation of citizenship. Only the head of the state has such powers.
And here’s what we see, on November 11, 2022, Matyukha’s tax ID disappears from the federal tax database, but at the same time, the Russian citizen passport was not annulled, instead, a new tax ID appeared in the federal register - 920459743181, which is valid at the time of publication of this material.
This tax ID was issued to non-resident of the Russian Federation Andriy Matyukha. Like an experienced swindler, he tried to hide the Russian passport, destroy tax data, while maintaining his business in Russia at a fairly profitable level, but he miscalculated one fact. Russian bureaucrats are very lazy and stupid, so at the same time, Matyukha is still considered both a Russian citizen with a valid passport and a non-resident of the Russian Federation with a valid tax ID. Just a full house in the world of paperwork. Therefore, it can be safely stated: Favbet’s branches in Russia are still operating, taxes drip into the Russian budget.
Next begins the layout of the deck for the Ukrainian royal flush. During December 2024, all offices, even those slightly related to the gambling business, were rewritten to his son Dmytro. The son is 30 years old, a non-public person, with a clean reputation, and here is such a “gift,” almost worth 150 million free spins, if converted into currency - it is an official gift of 75 million dollars.
Prior to this, son Dima was considered just an accountant at Favbet, and now the sole owner. What forced the head of the gambling clan to bequeath the inheritance earlier?
We look closely at the deck arrangement.
On December 4, 2024, the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine liquidates the Gambling Regulatory Administration. This state office controlled the activities of all online casinos and their tax collections.
On December 18, 2024, the head of the Gambling Regulatory Administration Ivan Rudy is arrested. The State Bureau of Investigations insists on suspicion of supporting the activities of a Russian online casino in Ukraine. It refers to casinos like PIN-UP, Parimatch, and 1Xbet, and no mention in Rudy’s case about Favbet’s activities.
Though, at that time there was already enough evidence of Matyukha’s casino connection to the aggressor country. Arrests of casino owners begin. Igor Zotko, the actual owner of PIN-UP, and top managers of the company were packed into a temporary detention center without the right to bail. On December 19, head of the Gambling Regulatory Administration Ivan Rudy was also denied the right to be released on bail. It smelled of fried food, and at that time Andriy Matyukha transferred all powers and ownership rights of the Favbet business to his son Dmytro. Nicely played by Matyukha Sr.: a new owner, which means, if investigators start digging, everything needs to begin from scratch.
Now let’s sort out the father’s gift. Along with the brand, the whole Favbet player base comes as an accompaniment. Every week, the SSU press service publishes news - a gambler blew up a railway, a police department, burned military equipment, etc.
Gamblers are dependent people, easy to catch if you have all their data - passport, bank card number, and phone. This is exactly what is needed for casino verification. When it’s seen that a player continues to lose, going negative but still trying to win back, such losers are immediately noted in the database.
And this concerns not only the marginalized but also servicemen. Our informant from Odesa shares the following: “I was betting in "Favbet" for a long time, probably since 2020, sometimes winning, sometimes losing. A normal thrill. I was generally a trader, delivering cigarettes to stores, then joined the army. When I had time in service – I played. Many play, some relieve stress this way, some out of habit. In the spring (ed.2024) I completely lost money, but wanted to buy a gift for my wife for March 8th, I was already serving and received a Viber message from a number +79: “Easy online earnings, only for Ukrainians. Reply “yes,” and we will connect with the office.” I blocked it. The same thing came from another number. I already got scared, contacted through a commander from the SSU. Then we contacted together. There, I wrote in Viber that I’m ready. They gave a link in Telegram, there was a task to send geolocation and several photos of our training base from outside. This was already handled by the investigation. But I gave all data and phone to the investigation. Nonetheless, two days later, two missiles hit our base with pinpoint accuracy. I can’t speak for everyone, but it means some of the guys were recruited. And "Favbet" is where there are data, nowhere else.”
On that day, March 15, 2024, due to a double hit by Iskander-type missiles into the Armed Forces Training Center, 21 people died, including soldiers, rescuers, medics.
There are many such stories. Not everyone is ready to admit it, and the enemy takes advantage of this. But let’s return to the clan structure. Essentially, Dmytro Matyukha is a croupier at the Favbet casino, while the clan head - Andriy Matyukha - controls the players at the table.
We closely observe the layouts.
Game №1. Simulation of removal.
Urgently rewrite the business to the son in one day, this layout provided a gap to confuse the investigation and manage to withdraw funds from the intermediary "Diamond Pay," which served Russian players.
Game №2. Bluff and monopolization.
The Economic Court of Dnipropetrovsk region on 19.12.2024 (on St. Nicholas) decides to return 10 million dollars to the Matyukha clan, specifically - 364 882 982.41 UAH of the penalty of the payment operator "Diamond Pay." It was this office that processed payments also for Cosmolot and Pin Up companies.
All these casinos had close business ties with Russia, but all sank except Favbet, these even warmed up on competitors by 10 million dollars. The same evidence of involvement, a single payment broker, but all structures visited everyone from the Gambling Regulatory Administration to the SSU, but no one to Favbet.
Game №3. Preparation for all options.
This game is only being prepared for distribution - according to insider information, the main goal of the Matyukha clan - to maintain the Favbet brand at the European level, at least in Romania and Croatia. In Ukraine, to divide into small apps like Plinko. Withdraw all possible funds earned in Russia and, if possible, continue business there.
Already on February 14, 2025, all powers of the Gambling Regulatory Administration were officially transferred by decision of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine to the Ministry of Digital Transformation. The same ministry, which due to a hacker attack by Russia, enabled the enemy to obtain data on all forms of ownership - movable and immovable property, contacts, and bank accounts of Ukrainians.
At present we have a gambling market almost monopolized by the Matyukha clan, which will be managed by the Ministry of Digital Transformation, a large leaked database of players used by the enemy for recruitment, and the heir of the Favbet gambling empire Dmytro Matyukha whom the clan head in one day decided to use to gain time in enriching at the expense of the lives of real people.
Author: Larysa Plekhanova
Бізнес на війні: як хімічні підприємства РФ підтримують військову машину Кремля
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