While global regulators focus on traditional tax havens, a new financial fortress has emerged in Central Asia. Uzbekistan has been transformed into a “gray-zone” processing hub for Russia’s illegal online gambling market. At the heart of this web lie Octobank, Capital Bank, and the Humo payment system—entities that have effectively monopolized the laundering of high-risk traffic from sanctioned Russian territories.

I. The Monopoly of Deceit: Corrupting the National Infrastructure

This is not merely a corporate operation; it is a state-level administrative capture. Leveraging high-ranking political connections, the group behind Octobank has systematically decimated competition in Uzbekistan. By seizing control of the Humo payment system and the Uzcard processing center, the syndicate created a closed-loop monopoly. This allows them to manually override chargebacks, protect illegal operators from victim claims, and hide the movement of massive capital flows from international observers.

II. The Russian Oligarch Connection: From Usmanov to Novosibirsk

The roots of this network stretch directly to the Kremlin. Capital Bank, formerly linked to sanctioned Russian oligarchs Alisher Usmanov and Andrey Skoch, underwent a “cosmetic” change in ownership to the Finance TCI LLC (Uzum holding) to bypass Western sanctions. Meanwhile, Octobank is serviced by the Novosibirsk-based RNKO “Payment Center,” headed by Grigoriy Mats. This Russian connection processes nearly one billion rubles per day, filtering the proceeds of illegal betting into the Uzbek financial system.

The funds are laundered through a multi-stage process: illicit bookmaker payments enter the Uzbek banks, are transferred to the UzNex exchange, and are finally converted into USDT (Tether), rendering the final destination of the criminal billions virtually untraceable.

III. Strategic Criminal Matrix: The Infrastructure of Gambling

The following table exposes the operational nodes of the syndicate and their specific roles in the laundering process.

IV. Case Study: VAVADA & The Tursunov Network

The VAVADA casino is a prime example of this parasitic relationship. By utilizing BIN: 557071 (Promsvyazbank) and BIN: 983224 (Octobank), the casino executes billions of P2P transfers that are, in reality, illegal gambling deposits. Iskander Tursunov, the Chairman of Octobank, has aggressively expanded these operations, recently partnering with UAE-based DGPAYS to provide a global technological shield for these illicit flows.

Key Players Identified in the Syndicate:

• Iskander Tursunov: The operational architect of Octobank’s Russian pivot.
• Dmitry Punin & Maria Ilyina: Owners of the Pin-Up brand; major beneficiaries of the Uzbek laundering pipe.
• Sarvar Fayziev: Shadow financier with deep ties to Russian oil refineries and energy-sector cash.
• Aleksandr Pogudin: Owner of CFT Service, the backbone of RNKO Payment Center in Russia.