Three Russian nationals who acquired a Cyprus Republic passport through the now defunct investment programme, are being sought by their country in a massive tax evasion case, as revealed in a report by Italian Rai3 which released details of the on-going criminal investigation on Monday.
45 year old Roman Alexandrovich, 38 year old Kazorin Sergeyevits and Karskov Sergeyevits, 42, have been named as suspects by authorities in the Russian district of Briansk, who believe they are the final beneficiaries of the 1Xbet betting company, owing the Russian state more than 800 million euro (63 billion rubles) in back taxes going back five years.Â
Available evidence does not point to an immediate connection between the Russian Cypriot passport holders and international conglomerate 1XBet, but the company appears to be chanelled to Cyprus through a labyrinth of money trails.
The 1XBet webpages operating in Canada and Brazil are owned by two Curacao-based business entities, which are in turn managed by two Cyprus registered enterprises, Klafkaniro Limited and Kassifoni Enterprises Ltd.
The three businessmen have denied being 1XBet beneficiaries.
A reporter of the Forbes Russian edition claimed on December 29 that he spoke to the three suspects in question in Limassol and they deny all charges.
The Briansk district has put its three nationals on an international wanted list, accusing them of developing betting software at 1XBet and providing technical suport for its webpage, without the necessary licenses from the Russian Federation’s tax authority.
