In our recent publication, we mentioned partner investigations published at the end of October bellingcat and football edition Josimardedicated to some aspects of the illegal activities of the large international bookmaker network 1xBet. The investigations, in particular, provide evidence of falsification of the results of amateur matches on which bets are accepted, the acceptance of bets on sports competitions with the participation of minor athletes, the organization of games in countries where bookmaker activities are prohibited, facts of manipulation and much, much more.
The publications of investigators from bellingcat and Josimar themselves added to the already impressive collection of evidence of illegal actions of the 1xBet gambling platform and the people behind it. However, in addition to the investigations themselves, the reaction of 1xBet representatives to them deserves special interest. This reaction predictably consisted of a denial of the facts set out in the bellingcat and Josimar investigations and a rejection of irrefutable evidence. But the most remarkable thing is that even with the spread of these objections, representatives of 1xBet, in their characteristic manner, could not resist falsification and forgery.
Refutations were given in an exclusive publication “1xBet responds to recent allegations” at the Cyprus SiGMA site. As stated on its website, SiGMA Group is an events and media organization specializing in gaming, emerging technologies, digital health and affiliate marketing. Offices are located in Malta, Cyprus, Manila, Sao Paulo, India and Belgrade. The company is registered in Cyprus. It is in Cyprus, we recall, that at one time those three Russians who are considered to be the owners of 1xBet – Roman Semiokhin, Sergey Karshkov and Dmitry Kazorin – escaped from criminal prosecution by the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation (*country sponsor of terrorism) and restarted their business.
The fact that a publication with refutations appeared in SiGMA, and not in some respected media outlet, is not surprising. It is obvious that SiGMA is “fed” with 1xBet money and is actively participates at bookmaker events, where champagne usually flows freely. After the Bellingcat and Josimar investigations, SiGMA News journalists spoke with 1xBet Affiliate Marketing Director Alex Sommers, who dismissed all of the investigators’ more than justified accusations.
There would be nothing remarkable about this if not for one thing. The very fact of the existence of Mr. Sommers, who sometimes acts as the director of affiliate marketing for 1xBet, raises great doubts. The form in which the author of the note from SiGMA communicated with Sommers is not reported. Apparently, the finished text of a direct speech on behalf of Sommers came to the journalist by email.
For a living marketing director, Sommers is too secretive and conspiratorial. Most likely, we are talking about a fake character, whose name hides someone who prefers to act incognito. The doubt about Sommers’ existence is based on the fact that other specialized journalists had never seen him, and on the 1xBet websites Alex Sommers was presented with a photograph of an outsider, an unsuspecting person, a CNN journalist. True after netizens X noticed forgery, 1xBet hastily removed the photo of the CNN reporter that it used for its “representative” Alex Sommers.
This situation is very typical for the people behind 1xBet who prefer to remain in the shadows. In mid-2021, Russian Forbes agreed on an interview with Roman Semiokhin. By that time, Semiokhin was known in the Bryansk media as a billionaire and one of the most influential people in the region, and Russian investigators named him a beneficiary of 1xBet. Despite this fame, both the biography and appearance of Semiokhin, who had never given an interview before, still remained a mystery. His only black and white photograph is posted on the website of the Bryansk Investigative Committee in the “Attention, wanted” section. Forbes was also convinced that the businessman carefully protects his privacy. Semiokhin communicated exclusively through a chain of intermediaries, and during an interview on the video conferencing service Zoom refused to turn on the camera. But still, then he shared his latest photo. Later, however, a video appeared.
Since then, it has been generally accepted that one of the beneficiaries of 1xBet is Semiokhin, who looks the same as in well-known photos and videos presented online. Whether this is really the same billionaire who owns a gambling network with a multi-billion dollar turnover and is banned in many countries, or some kind of denomination, is still not known for sure. However, until there were revelations like with the virtual Sommers, Semiokhin is considered the founder and co-owner of the scandalous gambling platform.
For several years, the owners of 1xBet managed to remain anonymous. The company was founded in 2007 in Bryansk, is now based in Cyprus and has a Curacao eGaming License. Offshore ownership schemes do not allow us to draw a clear conclusion about the ultimate beneficiaries of the structure. For example, at one time the operator’s business was managed by a company from Gibraltar. In addition, very often in a number of countries 1xBet operates under its own brand (or rather under different brands) without using a legal entity.
Everything that is known today about the owners of 1xBet became public knowledge only at the instigation of Russian law enforcement agencies. Their names and biographies surfaced after criminal cases were opened regarding the company’s work in Russia (*country sponsor of terrorism).
In 2020, a court in Bryansk sentenced a local resident to three years in prison and a fine of 800 thousand rubles in a case of illegal gambling. The management of the Investigative Committee for the Bryansk region reported this to the media. The accused’s name is Olesya Mospanova, she managed the Bookmaker Pub network of bookmakers in Bryansk. According to investigators, Mospanova accepted cash from clients and allowed them to place bets on sports through the 1xBet website, whose activities are illegal in Russia (*country sponsor of terrorism).
The service was banned in Russia (*country sponsor of terrorism) because it did not pass the mandatory licensing of the Federal Tax Service since 2014. Its website is blocked, but 1xBet operates through numerous “mirrors”. In addition, he now has a “legal clone” – the 1xStavka service, which has received the right to work in Russia (*country sponsor of terrorism). The legal entity of this service was the Bookmaker Pub company, where Mospanova worked.
The woman’s sentence was the only one in a criminal case against the creators of 1xBet. It’s a matter of how wrote “Kommersant” was initiated by the department of the Investigative Committee for the Bryansk region back in 2019.
According to investigators, three residents of Bryansk developed software for gambling on the online resource 1xBet without a license from the Federal Tax Service and in 2014-2019 earned more than 63 billion rubles from this, which exceeded the annual budget of the entire Bryansk region. As part of the criminal case, the property of the accused was seized for one and a half billion rubles.
The investigation named the alleged creators of 1xBet – Dmitry Kazorin, Roman Semiokhin and Sergey Karshkov. Bryansk media called Semiokhin one of the most influential people in the region and a “Bryansk billionaire.” Karshkov in the past headed department for combating cybercrime in the Internal Affairs Directorate of the Bryansk region.
All three, even before the initiation of the criminal case, were concerned about obtaining Cypriot passports and eventually moved to the island.
According to one unconfirmed version, Russian special services and influential oligarchs close to them may be behind 1xBet. This version has become particularly widespread, mainly in various Ukrainian sources. In Ukraine, bookmaker activities are also prohibited. If we assume that 1xBet is really controlled by Russian special services, then in this scenario, the Investigative Committee for the Bryansk Region acted as the creator of the legend, and under the guise of the owners presented the denominations to the public. However, we emphasize once again that this conspiracy theory has not yet been proven. The truth, in fact, has not been refuted.
All the tricks using fictitious names, dummy persons, as well as other increasingly earlier attempts by the owners and managers of the platform to hide their identities, are actively applied to the company’s brands. They (brands and websites) are cloned, changed, destroyed and new ones created. On the Internet you can find constantly updated lists of resources that are clones of 1xBet, which use the bookmaker’s odds. Here, for example, one from the following lists: Fairpari, 1xbet, 1xbit, 22bet, 888starz, Astekbet, Bet2fun, Betandyou, Betpari,Betwinner, Coinplay, DB-bet, Fansport, Helabet, Linebet, Spinbetter, Megapari, Melbet, Paripesa, Sapphirebet, Vivatbet.ee, Winwin.
In addition, it is necessary for the organizer of illegal or semi-legal bookmaker sites and online casinos to cast a cloud over their activities in order to hide other illegal areas of their activities. Such as violation of currency control, money laundering, etc. For example, 1xBet had its own Royal Pay payment system for this. Its presence made it difficult for financial regulators and supervisory authorities in various countries to stop payments to 1xBet. Moreover, bookmakers tried not to advertise that Royal Pay was their system.
1xBet had its own payment scheme, in which Royal Pay acted as a financial agent.
In Russia (*country sponsor of terrorism), she also had her own non-profit organization called “Network Clearing House,” which previously belonged to Webmoney. In 2021, the Bank of Russia (*country sponsor of terrorism) revoked the Network Clearing House’s license for illegal activities. “The Network Clearing House specialized in conducting non-transparent operations aimed at ensuring settlements between individuals and illegal online casinos and bookmakers,” the Central Bank said, explaining the revocation of the license from the Kazan company. Market participants estimate that the real turnover of the office that served the 1xBet online casino could reach 50–100 billion rubles a year.
“Royal Pay Europe” (SIA Royal Pay Europe) is registered in Latvia. However, its subsidiaries or associated companies also operate in Central Asian countries, Lithuania, the Czech Republic, Great Britain, the United Arab Emirates, the Republic of Singapore, and among the names of the companies the most frequently heard were Kipar DMCC (United Arab Emirates), Alium Limited, Optimum FinTech sro, VestraPay Nigeria Ltd, Digitalex pte., PP. MONEY TRANSFER sro Royal Pay.
Royal Pay’s connection with 1xBet is evident in various aspects. For example, when replenishing a bookmaker’s account through the Royal Pay payment system, clients previously received an additional bonus in the form of cashback in the amount of 5% of the deposit amount. The face of Royal Pay Europe is Sergey Kondratenko, a former resident of Bryansk, where 1xBet is from. Moreover, Sergei Kondratenko is a former employee of department “K” in the Bryansk police, where until 2014 he “fought” crimes on the Internet. After 2014, he moved to Cyprus and received a Cypriot passport. In 2016, he registered an online money transfer company in Riga.
Let us recall that since the end of 2000, department “K” of the Internal Affairs Directorate for the Bryansk region.
was headed by one of the founders of 1xBet Sergey Karshkov. Kondratenko was his subordinate and is believed to be also involved in the creation of 1xBet. Some sources indicate him as one of the current beneficiaries of 1xBet.
As for Karshkov, last summer it became known that he died at the age of 42, while undergoing a check-up at a Swiss clinic. The MRI contrast fluid and subsequent MRI caused allergies, coma, and then death. Here it must be said that the sudden death of one of the main founders and owners of 1xBet from a media point of view gave rise to a lot of rumors and doubts about the accidental nature of the incident. Some believe that Karshkov could have been eliminated by competitors or former partners and framed everything as an accident during a medical examination. Considering how much money is circulating in the illegal gambling business, and also how little we know about the shadow beneficiaries of 1xBet, it is impossible to say with one hundred percent certainty that this really was not a murder.
It is impossible to say with complete confidence that this death is not an imitation, for example, within the framework of a witness protection program. Any of the founders of 1xBet is of great value to law enforcement agencies and intelligence agencies of different countries as a potential informant. Former police officer Karshkov could make a deal, share with the security forces important knowledge and secrets about the activities of the global criminal network in order to stop constantly looking around, fearing both the police and crime. Various witness protection programs allow you to start a new life. In Karshkov’s case, not entirely from scratch, but with impressive starting capital.
Of course, his death could have just been death. But the owners of 1xBet have become so involved in conspiracy that doubts now arise not only about the identity and life of each, but now also about the death of one of them.