Fraud and an underground casino: how Vyacheslav Lysenko fled abroad

In late April, officers of the Bureau of Economic Security of Ukraine reported the discovery of an underground casino located in one of the capital's business centres. 

Alongside the casino, an illegal call centre was operating, which, under the guise of selling software for cryptocurrency trading, swindled money out of gullible citizens. Moreover, the call centre did not limit itself to the Ukrainian market — its staff also worked with clients in Germany and the Czech Republic.

During searches, gaming devices, phones, documents, and $135,000 in cash were seized. However, the most intriguing part of the investigation became the identity of the owner of these illegal businesses.

Vyacheslav Lysenko: flight and ties to CEO Club Ukraine

The owner of the underground casino and call centre turned out to be Vyacheslav Lysenko — a well-known businessman in Ukraine and co-owner of CEO Club Ukraine. At the time of the searches, he had already managed to leave the country, presumably heading to one of the European countries. Which specific country became his refuge is unknown, although it is clear that it is not Germany or the Czech Republic.

Law enforcement agencies also conducted searches at the premises of CEO Club Ukraine, which drew additional attention to the structures associated with Lysenko. Interestingly, there are two organisations with similar names: the public organisation "CEO Club Ukraine", owned by Serhiy Haidaiuchuk and Dmytro Karchuk, and the commercial entity LLC "CEO Club", co-owned by Lysenko himself. These intersecting interests raise many questions about the possible connection between Lysenko and his partners and the illegal businesses.

Business activities and smuggling

Vyacheslav Lysenko is known as one of the most prominent players in the market for logistics of Chinese goods to Ukraine. His company "Ukr-China Communication" became a pioneer in this field. However, his entrepreneurial career began to be tarnished in recent years due to numerous complaints about the quality of supplied goods and logistics services. Lysenko was also linked to the smuggling of Chinese counterfeits, which significantly damaged his reputation in the business community.

Perhaps it was precisely the problems with smuggling logistics that caused his transition to riskier businesses, such as underground casinos and fraud. However, being an experienced entrepreneur, Lysenko likely realised that to operate successfully in these areas, he would need protection at the highest level. Understanding this, he apparently prepared in advance for his flight abroad.

Continuation of the investigation and prosecution

Rather than personally answering for his illegal businesses, Lysenko left his subordinates, in particular Mykhailo Slypukha, as the director of several companies. It is not yet clear whether Ukrainian law enforcement agencies will catch Lysenko, nor whether an international arrest warrant will be issued. At present, no information about his search in international databases has been received.

Based on materials from the website Antikor