Citizens of Ukraine have taken first place in the world by the number of owners of gambling companies with Curaçao licences. Journalists identified 767 owners of 646 companies, among whom were 98 Ukrainians.
HOW MANY CASINO OWNERS ARE LINKED TO UKRAINE
According to the Telegram channel “Payment SHIELD in the CIS”, information about the owners was obtained as part of the Casino Secrets investigation, based on documents from the Curaçao regulator. The data reflects the situation as of December 2025 and includes former owners of companies.
Among the identified owners, 98 people turned out to be citizens of Ukraine. They are followed by the United Kingdom with 65 owners and Cyprus with 56. Thus, Ukraine came first among countries by the number of identified owners.
WHAT QUESTIONS AROSE ABOUT THE REGULATOR
During their study of the documents, journalists established that Curaçao Gaming Authority (CGA) issued licences to companies even when questions remained about the identity of their beneficial owners and the origin of the funds.
The publication of the leak was accompanied by scandals related to the activities of journalist Lilith Wittmann. Against this backdrop, the CGA withdrew from participation in the SBC Summit industry exhibition in Lisbon, scheduled for 29 September — 1 October 2026.
The regulator explained the decision by the need to concentrate resources on investigating the hacking of its portal. Wittmann published the corresponding document on the social network X.
WHAT THE REGULATOR SAID AFTER THE HACK
The CGA stated that it had stopped unauthorised access to the system and secured the compromised account. The regulator also notified the competent authorities of Curaçao and other countries.
In addition, the CGA is considering the possibility of legal action against Lilith Wittmann and is monitoring publications of the leaked documents in order to seek their removal. At the same time, information about the results of the hacking investigation is absent from the source materials.
HOW THE SCANDAL AFFECTED THE PARLIAMENT OF CURAÇAO
The situation also affected the parliament of Curaçao. A session dedicated to gambling legislation and the regulator’s expenses was postponed until the results of the investigations are received.
The opposition party MAN-PIN demanded that the infrastructure and data of the licensing system be returned to Curaçao’s control. Details of possible changes to the licensing system have not yet been provided.
Meanwhile, Lilith Wittmann proposed taking over the CGA’s vacated stand at the SBC Summit. According to her, after nine months of studying the regulator’s systems, she is ready to advise operators on obtaining Curaçao licences.
CONTEXT
Unlike Curaçao, in Belarus the gambling business is represented by both land-based casinos and online platforms. The country has more than 20 offline casinos, while a separate market segment is occupied by licensed internet operators and the state electronic lottery “Belbet”. The Belarusian market also attracts journalists’ attention over issues of online gambling regulation and business transparency.
