After the information about the arrest of Pin-UP casino owner Dmitry Punin in Cyprus appeared online, there was a strong flurry. However, later most of the articles disappeared from the space, publics stopped spreading news about this, and it seems as if the media are “cleaning up” information about his arrest. So the question arises: why is information about Punin’s connection to Pin-UP casino disappearing online and who could benefit from it?
Recently, in Cyprus, or rather in Limassol, security forces detained Dmitry Punin, the owner of the Russian-Ukrainian casino Pin-UP, during a regular operation. Many media outlets wrote about this, including Ua.News, and even ANTIKOR published an article in a foreign language. At the time, the Pin-UP Ukraine casino representative office called the situation a “misunderstanding”.
But in recent days, these publications have started to disappear from the network. The link to one of the Cypriot publications that was supposed to “redirect” to the article about Punin’s arrest, turns out to be a “blank page”. And such situations are not uncommon.
But why did they decide to remove the articles when many people had already learned about the arrest?
The journalistic materials, which were soon removed, stated that Dmitry Punin, who until recently headed Pin-UP on his own, was suspected of laundering hundreds of millions of dollars in the European Union, Ukraine, and the United Kingdom.
In addition, the beneficiary of Pin-UP is also accused of organizing illegal gambling and tax evasion. Interestingly, the real owner of Pin-UP is also a citizen of Ukraine, Ihor Zotko, who is registered as a number of legal entities operating Pin-UP casinos in Ukraine.
Interestingly, in November last year, Russian Dmitry Punin was spotted in Malta wearing clothes with the online casino logo. He posted the corresponding photo on Instagram, thus confirming his direct connection with the casino, which was so doubted by the media.
Why is Punin’s connection to the casino so carefully concealed and who benefits from “cleaning up” the information?
This is probably due to the fact that Punin himself is Russian, and his wife, Marina Ilyina, a native of Luhansk, now owns the Pin-Up trademark in Ukraine.
It is worth noting that Pin-Up operates in Ukraine through two legal entities: “Victoria Soft and Ukr Game Technology. On November 8, 2023, KRAIL revoked the license of Victoria Soft LLC due to ties with Russia, and on November 13, the court confirmed this decision and thus recognized the revocation of the license due to ties with Russia as justified.
Or this “purge” may be due to the fact that the gambling business in Ukraine is gradually collapsing, and the involvement of a person like Punin in the casino system will only worsen the overall situation. However, the situation remains rather unclear at the moment.
As previously reported , MP Yaroslav Zheleznyak recently noted that gambling could be banned in Ukraine, but in this case, the illegal part of the business would still remain. In his opinion, it is necessary to close the financial gateways, as a simple ban on casinos will only lead to the fact that all gambling “entrepreneurs” will go “into the shadows”.
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