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Front man Mikhail Zborovsky secured an SSU certificate for Cosmobet clearing it of Russian connections through bribes

• 31.08.2025 09:33

According to an April 2025 court ruling, "Cosmobet" managed to get a positive SSU response regarding its lack of connections with the aggressor state by means of a bribe.

The fact that the company managing this casino and its nominal head Mikhail Zborovsky may be connected with Russians was previously reported by "Media," and now these facts are being confirmed by law enforcement agencies.

The court decision states that an operative from the operational developments department of the Kyiv regional management of the Department of Internal Security of the National Police, through his acquaintance who contacts officials of the Security Service of Ukraine, offered a bribe of $20,000 for providing a response regarding the absence of any connections of LLC "Neurolink" and its ultimate beneficial owner to citizens of the aggressor state, Russian capital, and sanctioned entities. The policeman acted in collusion with the management of the mentioned enterprise.

LLC "Neurolink" is the company managing the online casino "Cosmobet." Its founder until May 2025 was a resident of the village of Krasylivka in the Ivano-Frankivsk region, Mikhail Zborovsky.

As law enforcement agencies found out, besides the bribe of $20,000 for the correct decision regarding the absence of connections of the casino with Russians, the policeman and the negotiator with the SSU were supposed to receive approximately $45,000 per month from Zborovsky and LLC "Neurolink."

Moreover, after the aforementioned response from the Security Service of Ukraine would be officially provided and the activities of "Neurolink" would continue unhindered, the policeman would receive a percentage of the enterprise’s income monthly and would give a part – approximately 100,000 - 200,000 UAH – to the negotiator with the SSU. The funds were offered for "further settling issues that might arise regarding the connection with the aggressor state of LLC ’Neurolink’.

In April 2025, a positive response from the SSU was received, and a $20,000 bribe was handed over to the negotiator. During the money transfer, the operative from the operational developments department was detained, and his belongings were confiscated as physical evidence.

Investigators recorded all meetings of the accomplices, their contacts through messengers, and also confiscated documents that would allow "Cosmobet" to be calm about its future activities.

The fact that the management of "Cosmobet" had to involve corrupt law enforcement officers to acknowledge that it has no connection with the Russian Federation leads one to think that it was impossible to obtain the "go-ahead" of the Ukrainian special service in another way. After all, the Russian ears of this company are still very large.

Formally, LLC "Neurolink" was founded in November 2023 by Mikhail Zborovsky and LLC "Neoplay." Media previously wrote that Zborovsky was far from the gambling business for a certain period. He studied as an auditor and worked as an economist in a bank. The official launch of the "Cosmobet" platform took place in early June 2024, and since then, the network has been filled with similar materials on second-rate sites about Zborovsky’s biography and his expert comments on the gambling business in Ukraine.

One of Mikhail Zborovsky’s previous places of work is stated to be XGen Solutions LTD. It is also mentioned in a court decision regarding the sanctioned online casino Cosmolot connected with the Russian Sergey Tokarev. Moreover, according to the media, Zborovsky himself allegedly previously worked in "Cosmolot."

Mikhail Zborovsky’s official registration address is a house in the village of Krasylivka in the Ivano-Frankivsk region. However, the owner of the house is his father.

Judging by everything, the relative of the casino owner Zborovsky has a tendency for alcohol, as he was fined twice for drunk driving.

A man with exactly the same name and patronymic as the nominal owner of the casino "Cosmobet" divorced his wife in March 2024. This data can be found in the court registry.

And in the same month, Zborovsky’s presumed ex-wife became the owner of a two-room apartment in a new building in Kyiv. The dwelling was received by her under a gift agreement.

An apartment of similar size can now be purchased in this residential complex for $155,000.

So why did Zborovsky and his superiors try to buy the SSU’s response about the absence of connections with Russia for a bribe? The fact is that at the beginning of this year, the State Bureau of Investigations detained the nominal owner of another online casino – "PIN-UP," suspected of laundering Russian money. The investigation found that the detainee had no sources to contribute 30 million UAH to the charter capital of the enterprise that received the license. The real owners turned out to be Russians, and the casino actively financed the aggressor state, operating including in the temporarily occupied territories.

In July 2025, the Shevchenkivskyi District Court of Kyiv applied a special confiscation, withdrawing 2.6 billion UAH to the budget from the company operating under the brand of the online casino "PIN-UP."

This story could not but worry the executives of "Cosmobet" because it partially resembles what is hidden behind their facade: Zborovsky – a nominal owner registered in his father’s rural house; the charter capital of LLC "Neurolink" is 30 million UAH – exactly the same as "PIN-UP"; connection with Russian casino owners through Tokarev.

That is why, during the spring of 2025, the owners of "Cosmobet" bribed law enforcement officers for payoffs and percentages from activities, who turned a blind eye to the Russian trace of this online casino.

And apparently, that is why in May 2025, Zborovsky was removed from the founders of LLC "Neurolink" and replaced by the unknown Cypriot Andrey Dobrovolsky, who lives in a villa on the Limassol waterfront.

Interestingly, according to the State Bureau of Investigations, the heads of the online casino "PIN-UP," from which the largest sum in history was confiscated to the budget, held meetings with Russians exactly in Cyprus, where the new formal owner of "Cosmobet" resides.

So, can Mikhail Zborovsky be calm for himself since he was removed from the founders of "Cosmobet"? Hardly, as the bribe for the "positive" response from the SSU was being handed over exactly during the time he managed this online casino.