The trial of the owner of the Russian Pin-Up: the lawyer demands the dismissal of the judge, Zotko may be free

“The lawyer of the owner of the Russian casino Pin-Up, Igor Zotka, announced the dismissal of the judge in the case after the Pechersk District Court of Kyiv refused to transfer the case to the Shevchenkivskyi Court. The defense motivated the request to recuse the judge by the fact that the judge should not have refused to transfer the case to the Shevchenkiv District Court, referring to the relevant decisions of the Kyiv Court of Appeal and the Criminal Cassation Court in”, — write on: ua.news

The lawyer of the owner of the Russian casino Pin-Up, Igor Zotka, announced the dismissal of the judge in the case after the Pechersk District Court of Kyiv refused to transfer the case to the Shevchenkivskyi Court. The defense motivated the request to recuse the judge by the fact that the judge should not have refused to transfer the case to the Shevchenkiv District Court, referring to the relevant decisions of the Kyiv Court of Appeal and the Criminal Cassation Court as part of the Supreme Court of Ukraine, which transferred cases to the Shevchenkiv District Court in view of the fact that in Shevchenkivskyi district is the actual office of the SBI, which is the body of the pre-trial investigation in the Zotka case.

“I entered as a defense attorney in the criminal proceedings only 40 minutes before the start of the court session. And the court gave only an hour to review 5 volumes of the criminal proceedings – this is objectively unrealistic. Secondly, a request was made to determine territorial jurisdiction in connection with the fact that, based on my conviction and on the basis of certain decisions of the Kyiv Court of Appeal and the Criminal Court of Cassation as part of the Supreme Court of Ukraine, the case should be considered in the Shevchenkiv District Court of Kyiv”

Video: Lawyer Ihor Zotka

Now another judge of the Pechersk Court will consider the legality of the judge’s recusal. The nuance is that the judge has time to make any decision before the legal detention of the defendant expires – namely, by January 11, 4:30 p.m.

It will be recalled that on January 10, the case of Ihor Zotka, the nominal owner of the Russian casino Pin-Up, was being considered in the Pechersk District Court of Kyiv. According to the prosecutor, the detainee will be charged under the article 111-2 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine – Assistance to the aggressor state, namely financing of the aggressor state. The sanction of the article provides deprivation of liberty for a period of ten to twelve years with deprivation of the right to hold certain positions or engage in certain activities for a period of ten to fifteen years and with or without confiscation of property.

The lawyer insists on Zotko’s innocence and will ask that the defendant be released from custody.

During the first session, the defense of the owner of the Russian casino Pin-Up asked the judge to transfer the case from the Pechersk District Court to the Shevchenkivsky District Court, citing the fact that the actual office of the pre-trial investigation body of the State Criminal Investigation Department is located in the Shevchenkivsky District of Kyiv and referring to judicial practice in similar cases and relevant decisions of the Kyiv District Court the Court of Appeal and the Criminal Court of Cassation as part of the Supreme Court of Ukraine.

After the judge did not grant the request to transfer the case to the Shevchenko court in Kyiv, the lawyer announced the judge’s dismissal.

Who is Ihor Zotko and what are Pin-Up accused of
Ihor Zotko is the owner of the company “Ukr game technology”, which owns the Pin-Up online casino brand in Ukraine. On January 8, Ihor Zotka was detained by the SBI officers. On January 10, the trial of the detainee began – he will be remanded in custody.

IN messages The State Bureau of Investigation and the Prosecutor General’s Office about the detention of Zotka said that the suspect did not have legal sources to contribute UAH 30 million to the authorized capital of the company “Ukr Game Technologies”, which is the owner of the Pin-Up brand in Ukraine. It is also known that the detainee was in Cyprus for a long time, where he spent time with citizens of the Russian Federation – the real owners of the online casino.

Ukrainian law enforcement and special services are investigating Pin-Up’s activities in Ukraine around the spring of 2024.

As a result of the investigation, the facts of Pin-Up representatives’ assistance to the aggressor state were revealed. It is known that from 2022 to 2024, Zotka’s company “UKR GAME TECHNOLOGY” transferred more than 260.13 million hryvnias to the Russian owners of the Pin-Up casino “GURUFLOW TEAM LTD” (the funds were paid as software license fees).

In April 2024, Derzhfinmonitoring blocked UAH 2.6 billion to the company, and on May 13, as part of the criminal proceedings of the State Bureau of Investigation, the Pechersk District Court seized Pin-Up’s accounts on May 13. However, later the Russian online casino succeeded in unblocking the funds – in October 2024, the Pechersk District Court of Kyiv canceled arrest.

Again, prevent the withdrawal of these funds from Ukraine succeeded thanks to the decision of the Kyiv Court of Appeal. According to the decision of the Cabinet of Ministers, this amount was to be transferred to the needs of the Armed Forces. And according to the leadership of ARMA, the money has already been sent to the purchase of military bonds, and therefore to the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

Photo, video: Iryna Kovalchuk, UA.NEWS