From illicit gambling to London speaker: how Ukraine-sanctioned Alena Shevtsova launders her reputation via British company Sends

From illicit gambling to London speaker: how Ukraine-sanctioned Alena Shevtsova launders her reputation via British company Sends

Recently, a large compliance event in the UK featured Ukrainian fintech executive Alena Degrik-Shevtsova as a speaker — despite the fact that she is under sanctions in Ukraine for suspected fraud involving billions of dollars.

Most participants, it seems, were not aware of her background, and her participation itself and the audience’s reaction demonstrated how compliance standards are applied in practice in the financial industry.

About this writes journalist Lyubov Velychko.

In Ukraine, Alena Shevtsova’s name is associated with a revoked banking license, ongoing criminal proceedings, and sanctions imposed by the Council for National Security and Defence (NSDC). In London, however, she positions herself as a fintech expert, award winner, and speaker at one of the key compliance events, where ticket prices exceed £1 000 (about $1 355).

On March 25–26, Alena Degrik-Shevtsova spoke at ExCeL London at the PAY360 conference — a major industry event supported by the UK Department for Business and Trade and attended by entrepreneurs and law enforcement representatives in the field of economic crimes.

Новости по теме: В Закарпатской области ливни подтопили несколько населенных пунктов

Her company Sends was among the four platinum sponsors and had a separate stand in the exhibition area. Shevtsova also spoke as a panelist in two discussions.

The Sends company stand in the exhibition area of the PAY360 conference — the largest event dedicated to the payments industry. (Photo: Lyubov Velychko)

According to two participants, Shevtsova spent «quite a lot of money» on participation in this event. The exact cost of such sponsorship is not publicly disclosed.

On the official PAY360 website, Shevtsova is presented as a fintech entrepreneur and panel speaker, including in the discussion «The agentic AI tsunami: revolutionizing compliance via AML and KYC», where AML means anti-money laundering, and KYC means customer identification procedures, which are part of banking compliance.

The description emphasizes her role in ensuring the resilience of Ukraine’s payment systems during the war, as well as partnerships with global companies, including Mastercard and Visa, and awards from international organizations and the Ukrainian government.

Her prominent presence at the compliance-focused event contrasts with how she is described by Ukrainian authorities. According to Ukraine’s Bureau of Economic Security (ESBU), she is a figure in a money laundering case involving the misappropriation of over $110 million. The investigation believes this scheme allowed laundering money obtained from illegal online gambling.

On April 12, 2025, Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelenskyy enacted the NSDC decision to impose sanctions against four individuals, including Alena Degrik-Shevtsova. The case also involves IBox Bank — a Ukrainian bank in which she held a significant stake. Its license was revoked by the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) in March 2023 due to systemic violations in anti-money laundering.

This decision was part of a broader campaign against so-called «miscoding» schemes, where payment transactions were deliberately assigned incorrect merchant category codes (MCC) — for example, masking gambling payments as utility bills or retail purchases — to hide their true nature and avoid taxation.

None of these circumstances — neither the investigations, nor the sanctions, nor the bank closure — were mentioned during the event.

Meanwhile, Shevtsova continues to work in the United Kingdom through her fintech business. Her company Sends is based in the UK. Sends is a trading name of Smartflow Payments Limited — a company registered in England and Wales (No. 11070048) and authorized by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) under number 900873.

Over the two days of PAY360, several thousand participants passed through the exhibition halls — estimates range from 5,000 to 10,000 visitors. The main topics of the event were artificial intelligence (AI) and compliance. Financial crimes, as expected for an event of this level, also remained among the key topics.

Новости по теме: В Burisma отвергли причастность своих сотрудников к даче взятки в Украине

Against this background, Shevtsova’s team was noticeably active: smiling, greeting visitors, and engaging in conversations throughout the day, with no visible signs that controversies around her background were being discussed.

Screenshot of a post on the Sends company page and Alena Shevtsova’s page after the PAY360 conference (screenshots from Instagram)

At PAY360, many participants were not aware of Shevtsova’s background. When asked if a person under sanctions abroad could pass UK checks, most responded that they should not.

«It depends on the jurisdiction… to some extent on who exactly imposed the sanctions», — noted one participant.

«You can’t be convicted of money laundering in one jurisdiction and start with a clean slate in another… that information must be stored somewhere», — said another.

However, when it was clarified that it was specifically about Shevtsova — the event’s speaker and sponsor — most declined to comment, and the second interlocutor suggested that she is likely exploiting «loopholes» in the system.

«I think she’s just taking advantage of loopholes», — he said.

Her background was not mentioned during the panel discussions, nor were there any references to IBox Bank.

However, not all reactions were critical.

«Wow. Obviously, she has financial flows, and it’s working, and I think such a person understands more than the average participant. I’d like to work with her», — noted a third participant.

In a post after the event, the Sends company described Shevtsova’s participation as part of broader industry discussions on artificial intelligence and financial compliance. According to the company, she participated in panels on AI-based AML and KYC solutions, as well as embedded finance, emphasizing the importance of combining technological innovations with proper governance and a business focus.

This situation reveals a gap between what the global financial industry declares regarding compliance and how it works in practice. Individuals associated with serious allegations can continue to operate in the system — and even gain legitimacy within it. In this sense, compliance risks turning not into a filter, but into a platform.