Pin-Up’s crypto dumping ground: how Dmytro Druzhynskyi and Maryna Levkovych siphoned $1 billion out of Kazakhstan through Cyber Pay and Bonami LLP

“The sweet couple” — U.S. citizen Dmytro Druzhynskyi and Ukrainian citizen Maryna Levkovych-Ilyina-Ginzburg — are wanted by international law enforcement authorities over fraudulent online casino schemes.

Well, those are some familiar faces. Dmytro Druzhynskyi was a gifted protégé of Alimzhan Tokhtakhunov, better known by the nickname “Taiwanchik,” the notorious Russian mobster. Several years ago, Taiwanchik was considered a key figure in a transatlantic money laundering network tied to sports gambling in the United States, while the “Dmytro Druzhynskyi Organization” — the follower of Taiwanchik known by the alias “Blond” — reportedly operated under his control and participated in transferring part of the illegally obtained funds.

Now, however, “Blond” Druzhynskyi has found himself at the center of a scandal in Kazakhstan together with his partner Maryna Ginzburg, who also allegedly used documents under the surnames “Ilyina” and “Levkovych.”

Kazakhstan’s Financial Monitoring Agency has placed Druzhynskyi and Levkovych on a wanted list, suspecting them of organizing an illegal gambling business in the country. According to investigators, Druzhynskyi and Levkovych coordinated online casino operations through a network of affiliated companies and payment operators.

Yet judging by recent developments, “Blond” Druzhynskyi appears entirely unbothered: he is reportedly living comfortably in the United States and recently even announced preparations for the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles, which he claims to sponsor himself — apparently using money “earned through hard work” in Kazakhstan.

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Arrested in absentia

The official version of the story surrounding the alleged schemes involving Druzhynskyi and Ginzburg was presented by Kazakhstan’s Financial Monitoring Agency.

According to investigators, a network of illegal online casinos linked to the Pin-Up and Pinco brands operated in Kazakhstan under the guise of a legal betting business.

A key element of the scheme was Bonami LLP, which obtained an official bookmaker’s license in Kazakhstan. Formally, it operated as a legal betting business.

An oil painting of Dmytro Druzhynskyi and Maryna Levkovych

Investigators believe that client funds were first accumulated in transit accounts before being routed through the payment companies Gold Pay and Cyber Pay (later renamed Pinnacle Financial Solutions), and then converted into cryptocurrency.

More than $1 billion was allegedly funneled through this system.

In January 2026, Dmytro Druzhynskyi and Maryna Levkovych were placed on an international wanted list.

As previously reported by the media, Druzhynskyi and Levkovych were allegedly responsible for organizing the payment infrastructure. In other words, their role was tied not so much to operating the casinos themselves, but to managing the most important element of the gambling business — the movement of money.

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Later, the court authorized the arrest in absentia of Druzhynskyi and his blonde companion.

That is precisely why investigators are focusing not only on the bookmaker itself, but also on the financial “intermediaries.”

It was at the payment processing stage that structures such as Gold Pay, Cyber Pay, and Pinnacle Financial Solutions allegedly emerged.

For a classic illegal online casino operation, this was almost an ideal model: formally, there was a license and a payment service, while in practice it functioned as an international money-moving machine.

The scheme itself was simple — or rather, primitive.

Users deposited funds through what appeared to be a legal betting infrastructure, after which the money passed through a chain of payment companies. The purpose of the transactions was disguised as legitimate operations, and the funds were then split into smaller amounts.

The criminal duo: Druzhynskyi and Levkovych

The funds were then allegedly moved through cryptocurrency channels and transferred outside Kazakhstan.

Dmytro Druzhynskyi — the son of a fake KGB agent

While Kazakhstan is searching for the alleged fraudster Dmytro Druzhynskyi, the U.S. citizen himself presents his image as that of a philanthropist and organizer of training programs for athletes preparing for the 2028 Olympics.

He is not hiding, living openly and quite comfortably.

In addition to the nickname “Blond,” he is also reportedly known as “Mitya.”

This agile 55-year-old man may allegedly have direct ties to Dmitry Dmitrievich Druzhinsky (born in 1939), the scandal-ridden FBI operative widely known as the “fake KGB/GRU agent.”

From the 1960s until the late 1990s, the elder Druzhinsky — who reportedly spoke nine languages fluently — posed as a KGB officer and helped U.S. authorities identify spies and terrorists. He is said to have participated in around 50 operations and contributed to the imprisonment of 25 spies.

He became known for operations against aircraft hijacker Fawaz Younis, as well as the Robert Lipka case involving a clerk accused of selling classified information to the KGB.

The activities of the elder Druzhinsky were covered by Kommersant as far back as 1997.

According to these reports, Druzhynskyi Jr. was born and raised in the United States in the family of the FBI’s most famous fake KGB/GRU operative.

His father reportedly joined the FBI in Quantico in 1968, while his son Mitya was born in 1970.

Now the puzzle pieces seem to fit together.

Here is more about the life of Druzhynskyi Jr.

The Olympic Games will take place from July 14 to July 30, 2028.

One of the key training venues is expected to be the MatchPoint NYC sports complex in Brooklyn, which belongs to Mr. Druzhynskyi.

Incidentally, this luxury complex was opened in 2013 — the very same year that “Blond,” who had allegedly been involved in Taiwanchik’s shady operations, reportedly reached a deal with investigators.

Alimzhan Tokhtakhunov, also known as Taiwanchik — mentor of Dmytro Druzhynskyi, the son of an FBI agent

The 120,000-square-foot MatchPoint NYC complex is located in South Brooklyn. It regularly hosts prestigious competitions and charity events. The MatchPoint NYC infrastructure includes a fitness center for cardio and strength training, a rhythmic gymnastics center, a basketball court, and other facilities. After training sessions, visitors can dine at the complex’s restaurant.

The venue also features a tennis center with nine courts. Well-known tennis players such as Dinara Safina, Kateryna Bondarenko, and Aleksandr Nedovyesov have trained there.

Blond with young athletes (far right)

For many years, Druzhynskyi has provided sponsorship support to young athletes, including Ukrainian tennis player Anhelina Kalinina.

He has also supported Ukraine’s national freestyle wrestling team.

Quite an impressive “showcase.”

Blond, Murashka, and Oracle

But let us return several years back, when Blond was allegedly running the so-called Druzhynskyi Organization.

It was described as a major international criminal group that served as a key element in a large-scale network of illegal gambling, sports betting, and money laundering operations connecting the United States, Russia, Ukraine, and Cyprus.

According to reports, the “Druzhynskyi Organization” was directly linked in New York to the operations of Taiwanchik and functioned as one of the main structures carrying out shadow activities under Tokhtakhunov’s leadership.

Druzhynskyi’s group allegedly accepted multimillion-dollar bets from elite clients both from CIS countries and the United States.

Tens of millions of dollars in illegal profits — including funds routed through the accounts of the “Druzhynskyi Organization” — were allegedly transferred to the United States and laundered through shell companies, art galleries, and Cypriot banks.

Soon afterward, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York brought charges against Alimzhan Tokhtakhunov.

According to investigators, he supervised the activities of two international criminal groups involved in organizing illegal gambling operations in the United States.

Alimzhan Tokhtakhunov

U.S. authorities carried out a large-scale investigation involving several American law enforcement and intelligence agencies.

As a result, 34 members of international criminal groups were arrested in New York, Philadelphia, Detroit, and Los Angeles.

All of those detained were charged with money laundering and organizing illegal gambling operations within the United States.

Investigators estimated the total damage at $100 million.

According to the investigation, some clients of the criminal network accumulated debts ranging from hundreds of thousands to millions of dollars.

To repay one such debt, a particularly азартный gambler was reportedly forced to transfer control of his company, which operated in the Bronx water supply sector.

The company was valued at approximately $2 million.

The Bronx is one of New York City’s five boroughs.

“For dispute-resolution services alone, Tokhtakhunov managed to earn $10 million in just two months in 2011,” the prosecutor’s office said in an official statement.

It is also worth recalling that back in 2002, U.S. authorities accused Taiwanchik of attempting to bribe judges during the figure skating competition at the Salt Lake City Olympic Games.

At the request of American law enforcement agencies, Tokhtakhunov was arrested in Italy, but the Italian authorities refused to extradite him to the United States.

After that, Taiwanchik quickly relocated to Moscow.

The United States stated that it would continue seeking the extradition of Alimzhan Tokhtakhunov, who could face up to 90 years in prison.

An outraged Tokhtakhunov told journalists that no criminal organization had ever existed and that the people named in the prosecutor’s list were simply his friends and card-playing partners.

The gambling operations themselves were allegedly run by a group led by Dmytro Druzhynskyi. The group reportedly included Aleksandr Zaverukha, Aleksandr Kachalov, nicknamed “Murashka,” and a certain Artur Azen.

The “accounting department” was allegedly overseen by Anatoly Golubchik, known as “Tony,” and Noah Siegel, also called “Oracle.”

Members of the group were also said to control a network of underground poker clubs frequented by famous athletes, Hollywood stars, and Wall Street businessmen.

During the investigation, authorities secured the cooperation of Hillel Nahmad, the owner of a well-known New York art gallery located in the five-star Carlyle Hotel.

The five-star Carlyle Hotel

Hillel Nahmad allegedly controlled a network of underground online casinos, while the illegal enterprise was reportedly financed by the art dealer’s father, billionaire David Nahmad, who resides in London.

Dmytro Druzhynskyi and several members of the “Druzhynskyi Organization” eventually pleaded guilty in court.

They agreed to cooperate with investigators in order to avoid maximum prison sentences.

Hillel Nahmad

But it appears that Blond Mitya himself may have escaped any real punishment, since in that very same memorable year of 2013 he announced the opening of the MatchPoint NYC sports complex in Brooklyn.

So, did he simply lie low for several years before resurfacing in Kazakhstan with a new “project” alongside his partner Levkovych?

In the end, more than $1 billion was allegedly illegally transferred out of Kazakhstan through banks and payment aggregators.

Maryna Levkovych-Ginzburg

Some media outlets are now asking: where exactly did Druzhynskyi and Levkovych disappear to? Kazakhstan has placed them on an international wanted list.

However, there has been no information about their detention — and such news is unlikely to appear anytime soon.

It should be recalled that back in December 2025, Kazakhstan’s law enforcement agencies carried out more than 70 searches at financial offices allegedly involved in the fraudulent scheme. The criminal case materials mentioned representatives of 35 payment companies, as well as four banks through which the illegal transactions were allegedly processed.

In essence, Blond Mitya — the son of an FBI agent — allegedly managed to recreate yet another “Druzhynskyi Organization” in Kazakhstan, and for that Dmytro Druzhynskyi did not even need to be physically present in Astana or Pavlodar.

The online casino network operating under the PIN-UP and PINCO brands was reportedly managed by a group of individuals from abroad through affiliated structures. Investigators claim the suspects coordinated the scheme by recruiting accomplices, establishing cooperation with payment organizations and second-tier banks, and helping create the infrastructure for accepting and withdrawing funds.

The agency has asked anyone with information about the possible whereabouts of the wanted individuals to contact the duty office of Kazakhstan’s Financial Monitoring Agency at +7 7172 70 84 78.

The suspects were also accused of organizing underground poker clubs.

Last November, the BBC mentioned Druzhynskyi among suspects who had entered plea agreements with the authorities.