Cosmolot challenged the ESBU and tax authorities' accusations of tax evasion and won all court cases
Ukrainian gambling operator Cosmolot (LLC “Spaceiks”), owned by the American company Nevada Gaming Holding LLC, has won its court battles with tax authorities. As a result of the proceedings regarding additional tax assessments, the allegations of tax evasion against the company were dropped by the court and refuted. This was announced by the company’s main investor and owner, Arnulf Damerau.
Cosmolot’s (LLC “Spaceiks”) accounts have been blocked for almost a year. Between September and November 2023, the State Tax Service of Ukraine (STSU) conducted a scheduled tax audit of the company, which resulted in tax liabilities and fines amounting to UAH 22.6 billion. Consequently, in February 2024, the Economic security bureau of Ukraine (ESBU), upon request from the Prosecutor General’s Office of Ukraine, froze the company’s bank accounts, completely halting its operations.
The company’s legal battle involved several episodes, including:
- The formation of expenses related to royalty accruals,
- The formation of expenses for producing advertising videos,
- Taxation of player payouts,
- Compliance with fiscal regulations (RRO usage).
Cosmolot successfully won all cases and refuted the allegations from tax authorities and the ESBU.
Despite the victories in court, Cosmolot’s accounts remain frozen. Company owner Arnulf Damerau commented on the conclusion of the tax cases but emphasized that the unjustified account freezes remain unresolved:
“The court proceedings are over, but the business remains blocked. In fact, the account freeze was based on the results of the tax audit. We have refuted the allegations and won all court cases. However, despite this, the company’s accounts remain unjustifiably frozen. Although we have had multiple court decisions to unblock the accounts, the Prosecutor General’s Office has reimposed the freezes.
We continue to defend our rights legally and hope for a final court decision to lift the freezes on the accounts based on our court victories.”
Statement from Arnulf Damerau
“For a whole year, Cosmolot has been fighting baseless allegations from the ESBU and tax authorities in court. It has been a long and difficult process. It began with intense pressure on the business, raider attacks, then a complete shutdown of the company’s operations, and unfounded accusations.
Finally, we are seeing the first significant results of our long struggle. Cosmolot has refuted all additional tax assessments in court, including those related to royalty accruals, expenses for producing advertising videos, taxation of player payouts, and compliance with fiscal regulations (RRO).
From the very beginning of this story, I knew we would go all the way to defend our rights within the legal framework. However, despite winning the cases and refuting all allegations, the company’s accounts remain unjustifiably frozen. Multiple court rulings to unblock the accounts have been ignored, and the Prosecutor General’s Office of Ukraine has reimposed the freezes.
We will continue to defend our rights legally and hope that law enforcement authorities cease their unwarranted pressure on the company, allowing us to resume operational activities.”
Las Vegas, 19 December 2024