In Russia, Igor Lyapustin, the former CEO of Melofon LLC (the legal entity behind bookmaker Melbet), made a statement on April 28 during his final words before sentencing. He claimed that the criminal case against him was initiated at the direction of Roman Semyokhin, co-founder of the iGaming operator 1xBet.
According to Lyapustin, the complainant, Alexander Gradulenko, has been working for Semyokhin for many years and filed a police report at his direct instruction.
Lyapustin also asserts that Semyokhin intends to regain control over Melofon through Gradulenko and reclaim his share in the Russian market, which he previously exited amid claims from law enforcement agencies. Among the accusations directed at Semyokhin during Lyapustin's speech were allegations of criminal prosecution by the Investigative Committee of Russia for transferring funds to offshore accounts and failing to pay taxes amounting to $851.5 million, which Lyapustin claims were illegally obtained from gambling activities.