Alimony row, Russian money trail and a dead neobank: Inside the downfall of Sportbank co-founder Nykyta Izmaylov

Tetyana Bondarchuk, the ex-wife of one of the co-founders of Sportbank, Nykyta Izmaylov, has accused him of allegedly failing to pay alimony for their children. She posted the relevant statement on her Instagram page. 

"In October 2022, I set my boundaries. I refused to put up with certain things, stopped adapting, directly said ’no’, and for the first time, expressed all my feelings to his wife. A harsh and dry truth.

And from this moment a different game began. Psychological harassment.

Manipulations with money. Pressure through financial constraints.

When I entered a new relationship — he completely lost control.

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And what used to be an obligation towards the children started being used as an instrument of pressure," wrote Tetyana Bondarchuk, noting that alimony was previously paid, although in a smaller amount.

She also added that a man becomes a father not at the moment of a child’s birth, but at the moment he takes responsibility.

Tetyana Bondarchuk (Izmaylov) is a blogger and self-discovery practitioner who promoted informational courses, and formerly the founder and visionary behind the unprofitable company Eat Easy (balanced nutrition delivery), which was developed with her husband’s money and closed after the funding stopped.

Nykyta Izmaylov worked for several years as the financial director of the PMBL group (bookmaker Parimatch), and later, according to him, became a shareholder of this company. There is a version that the money received from the bookmaker activities was invested in various projects, including Eat Easy and the neobank Sportbank, launched on the basis of "TASCOMBANK" in 2019 and is a joint project of the IT company Dyvotech and the first Ukrainian specialized fintech fund N1. Its founders are Ukrainian entrepreneurs Nykyta Izmaylov and Denys Saprykin. In March 2023, the National Security and Defence Council (NSDC) imposed sanctions against the Ukrainian bookmaker Parimatch for 50 years due to its Russian origin or cooperation with the aggressor country.

In January 2024, more than 20 searches were conducted in the offices of SportBank, and at Izmaylov’s and his partner Denys Saprykin’s premises. It is claimed that the investigation pertains to "treason, money laundering, and tax evasion".

Already in April 2024, "TASCOMBANK" terminated all relations and work with Sportbank, ceasing the existence of the project.

Earlier, we wrote about the possible involvement of SportBank in illegal bookmaker activities. Izmaylov may have also invested part of the allegedly laundered funds in the startup SteadyPay, owned by Steadypay Limited. This company is registered in the UK and is associated with the former deputy chairman of the board of Russia’s Gazprombank, Oleg (Alan) Vaksman. The relevant information is published and available in the open register of legal entities in the UK, claim British journalists.