Feast during the war: how wanted bankster and Ibox Bank owner Alena Degrik-Shevtsova squanders stolen billions on a luxury life in Dubai

In the spring of 2025, the Bureau of Economic Security initiated a special pre-trial investigation in the case of the owner of «Ibox Bank» Alyona Shevtsova. It concerns the laundering of 5 billion hryvnias for illegal casinos through a scheme using «miscoding». Law enforcement agencies have particularly focused on the fact that the suspect’s lawyers are doing everything to delay the investigation of the case so that she avoids liability.

The comedy of the situation is that the husband of the sanctioned businesswoman -  Yevhen Shevtsov continued to work in the National Police of Ukraine until March 2026. He diligently declared the assets of his wife, who was declared wanted, including those abroad, although he did not indicate the amounts of income that Shevtsova receives from foreign companies. And there are quite a few of them.

At least since 2023, Alyona Shevtsova has been living in Dubai with her children. In the UAE, the woman has four registered companies. Two of them – beauty salons. The most promoted one is Leo beauty club, located in the five-star Kempinski hotel on The Palm Jumeirah island. The salon was opened in 2023. It is advertised by other famous Ukrainian women living in Dubai, including former TV presenter Vasylisa Frolova and influencer Santa Dimopulos.

The salon focuses on serving Ukrainian- and Russian-speaking clients, and some of its employees don’t even speak English. A few days ago, the establishment hosted a «beauty breakfast» where cosmetologists and other staff shared beauty secrets in Russian.

In one of the reviews about the salon, a client complains about terrible service and warns that this place is quite dubious. Moreover, the woman suspects that the establishment may be a front for another business.

Alyona Shevtsova opened another beauty salon in downtown Dubai. However, the last updates on the Le boudoir beauty salon page were in 2023. So it’s hardly possible to consider it popular.

From her husband’s declaration, it is also known that in Dubai, the woman has two more companies - LEO Ventures FZCO and Eclatant&CO Trading CO. L.L.C. The first one is located in a free economic zone, meaning it can operate without taxation. Judging by the names, these companies are engaged in trading.

Alyona Shevtsova lives in Dubai in a villa with an area of 622 square meters. Her husband did not indicate in the declaration how much renting such a house costs her. But if you analyze prices on local real estate websites, the average rent for a house of this size in a good area can cost 100-300 thousand dollars per year. Depending on the presence of a pool, furniture, etc. Note that this is a fairly basic price in a good location, but without «luxury» frills.

Alyona Shevtsova’s eldest son Lev noted on his social media pages that in 2025 he graduated from the private Duke of York’s Royal Military School in London.

A semester of study at this educational institution costs 7700 pounds sterling, or more than 23 thousand pounds per year. Let us recall that in Ukraine, Alyona Shevtsova is under sanctions and is prohibited from disposing of assets and withdrawing funds abroad. Nevertheless, she managed to find hundreds of thousands of dollars for renting a house in Dubai and expensive education for her children.

Lev Shevtsov noted on Facebook that he lives in Dubai, but since September 2024, he has been employed by the London company Sends.co, which deals with electronic payments. This is his mother’s company – Alyona Shevtsova’s, registered in Great Britain.

The company is not new; it was founded back in 2017. Initially, the firm was called Electronic payment solutions LTD, and in 2023 it was renamed Smartflow payments limited. The founders of the company were two Russian citizens – Sergey Baymakov and Mikhail Ponomarev. The Russians remained in the company’s shareholders until March 2023, when Alyona Shevtsova joined the company.

According to the London register, in 2017 the company’s authorized capital was 400 000 euros. But in 2022, it sharply increased to 1.6 million euros. During the same period, the company’s shareholders partially changed.

According to the documents, as of December 31, 2022, the shareholders of Electronic payment solutions LTD were Olena Sosyedka and Yuliya Sosyedka, each owning 50% of the company’s shares. These are the same sisters who ran schemes in the «Concord Bank» they founded in Ukraine. The institution’s activities were accompanied by scandals related to suspicions of tax evasion and connections with the gambling business. A very similar story was with Alyona Shevtsova’s bank «Ibox», which was also related to the sisters Sosyedka’s banking structure.

From the extract on the British company Electronic payment solutions LTD, it can be learned that from the related Olena Sosyedka and Alyona Shevtsova, the firm received 80 000 euros and 40 000 euros in unsecured loans with a repayment date in 2023. Moreover, while Sosedka provided funds without interest, Shevtsova had to return her money with a 2% markup.

The documents also state that as of December 31, 2022, the ultimate controlling party of the company was Alyona Shevtsova, due to her share in the share capital.

The powers of the Russian Baymakov as the company’s director were terminated in May 2022, while his Russian partner Ponomarev’s – only in March 2023, when Alyona Shevtsova was already managing the company.

Interestingly, the documents on the London firm state that Shevtsova obtained Polish residency in 2024. Let us recall that in April 2025, it was in Poland that a associate of Shevtsova from «Ibox Bank» Iryna Tsyhanok was detained. Both women are involved in the case of laundering 5 billion hryvnias for online casinos.

In February 2026, Alyona Shevtsova opened another firm in London – Odessys tech LTD. The name was obviously chosen in honor of the city of Odesa, where the woman was born. The company operates in the field of information technology. Shevtsova is the sole founder. The documents also indicate that although she is a Ukrainian citizen, she has Polish residency.

And this despite the fact that in fact Shevtsova lives in Dubai with her children, where she also has residency. The woman’s middle son Nikita attends a local mental arithmetic club taught by Russian-speaking teachers. This is additional confirmation that Dubai is the permanent residence of the sanctioned Shevtsova.

While Ukrainian law enforcement agencies are searching for Alyona Shevtsova and investigating the case of legalizing 5 billion hryvnias for the gambling mafia, the woman continues to enjoy life. She leads a socialite lifestyle, opens salons and businesses, and apparently does not feel the effect of the sanctions imposed in Ukraine at all.