RTThu, 18 Apr 2024 12:11 UTC
© Sean Zanni / Patrick McMullan via Getty ImagesFILE PHOTO: Arnulf Damerau in 2017.
Ukrainian authorities have accused a major online casino co-owned by entrepreneur Arnulf Damerau of tax evasion
One of the largest private Western investors in Ukraine has told the
Financial Times that senior Kiev officials, including some from President Vladimir Zelensky's office, are trying to extort money from him.
Anglo-German businessman Arnulf Damerau co-owns Cosmolot, one of the largest online casino operators in Ukraine, which is being investigated by the country's Economic Security Bureau (ESBU).
In an interview with the British paper on Thursday, he alleged that senior Ukrainian officials some months ago had made to him what amounted to a criminal proposal.
Cosmolot was founded in 2021 by entrepreneur Sergey Potapov, after the government of President Vladimir Zelensky legalized gambling, ending a ban that had lasted for over a decade.
Damerau invested an undisclosed sum in the business last year, becoming one of the primary beneficiaries.The Ukrainian authorities suspect Cosmolot of tax evasion. Last October, the ESBU raided the firm's headquarters and in February it froze over $17 million in the company's accounts, claiming it owed the government $30 million in back taxes.
It alleged that copycat websites that share design and infrastructure with the online casino serve some of its clients, but do not report the proceeds that they generate.Damerau, who denies the allegations of tax evasion, claimed to the
FT that
in December a Ukrainian individual met him in Vienna and said that Cosmolot's legal woes would disappear if half of the company's shares were transferred to an offshore trust. The businessman said he informed law enforcement in the EU and the US about the situation.
The corruption, Damerau told the British newspaper, comes from a "minority" at the top level of the Ukrainian government, including in Zelensky's office. Some reports in Western media have claimed that the president does not tolerate graft in his inner circle.
Critics of the Ukrainian leader point out that senior officials tend to get away with major corruption scandals in their departments, as was the case with former defense minister Aleksey Reznikov. He was removed from office last September, months after his ministry was accused of procuring military supplies at grossly inflated prices.
Zelensky's office has championed the decriminalization of gambling, touting its benefits for the state budget. Cosmolot is the tenth largest taxpayer in the country, according to Damerau.However,
according to Ukrainian lawmaker Aleksey Goncharenko, the industry has become a national security threat. He claimed last month that
some 90% of frontline troops suffer from a gambling addiction. Soldiers are paid relatively high salaries and do not have many ways to spend their money, so
many of them reportedly turn to online slot machines to cope with the constant stress they face on the battlefield.
Comment:
1) The information in the article that "
some 90% of frontline troops suffer from a gambling addiction" is disturbing, add some drugs and alcohol to the picture, and it is clear why there is not more resistance from the people on the ground. Taking a step back, in many western countries teenagers loose class time and memory restoring night sleep due to computer games, helped along with legal and illegal drugs. Is it called zombification?
2) The German paper,
Berliner Zeitung posted and article about the case, beginning, if translated:
German investor accuses Ukraine of corruption: "Reminiscent of Yanukovych's darkest times"
The owner of a large gambling platform in Ukraine sees himself being blackmailed by high-ranking officials in Kiev. The corruption is said to extend into government circles.
One of Ukraine's largest investors claims that corrupt Kiev security officials and people close to the government are blackmailing him. It's about tens of millions of euros. At least that's what the always well-informed Financial Times, based in London, reports.
3) From this page,
Arnulf Damerau, there is in the about section:
Arnulf Damerau is a serial entrepreneur and globally active philanthropist. He is chairman and founder of the EuroAtlantic Group and the EuroAtlantic Institute which hosts the annual EuroAtlantic Security Dinners during the MSC Munich Security Conference and the WEF World Economic Forum. Arnulf is a shareholder in Crowdstrike, the leading global CyberSecurity firm that protects the Cybersecurity of 10 largest financial institutions the world. . Arnulf studied and worked in Europe, United States and Japan, and graduated from the Wharton Business School in 1991. He is a competitive sailor and pilot.
Mr. Damerau is undoubtedly a very sharp businessman, though the above expression "serial entrepreneur" is less familiar than "serial killer", but how come he did not realize what he was getting into when he began business in Ukraine, as in when you play in the dirt you get dirty. Can he not take a lesson from the people addicted to the games he has earned fortunes on, accept a big loss, and get over with it, rather than being a sorry looser? One could counter such pessimism and criticism with saying that there is always money to be made, also in war, and that it was courageous of him to step into the Ukrainian market after the war had begun. Counting on the war ending at some time is realistic, even if it could draw out, and being into a market early is always an advantage.
Alternatively one might argue, that taking risks is fine, but the amount of money he might loose is perhaps small compared to what he has or controls, so why did he not just leave, when he was threatened, and why this public whining now? Was one intention to entice the corrupt to show their face, so he would later be able to raise a voice against what is going on, given how difficult it has been for many German and European businesses, business people after the US and its EU lackeys pushed the confrontation with Russia through their front line NATO dressed up Ukrainian Nazionalists?
Whatever the case may be, considering how connected Damerau is, and his comparing of the current government with what they toppled could point to regime change being on the horizon. Zelensky assumed office on May 20, 2019 intended to last five years. Zelensky knows this as well as anyone else, and now Damerau, by going public with his complaint, has played the ball over to Zelensky.
4) See also:
When you go to sleep with dogs, you wake up with fleas.