The name of Artem Lyashanov is associated with the name bill_line by the average user of non-banking payment systems, which he heads. The rest are generally unaware of who Artem Lyashanov is and why he is so popular in narrow circles.
Artem Lyashanov himself runs several blogs dedicated to financial technologies in highly respected publications, actively promoting both his persona and his payment system bill_line, which many Ukrainians use.
Meanwhile, it wouldn’t hurt the users of this system to be interested in the persona of Artem Lyashanov himself, as well as the payment system he leads. And the Security Service of Ukraine should have intervened in the situation long ago. Why the SSU should be interested in the persona of Artem Lyashanov – a bit lower, and for now, let’s start with bill_line.
Why bill_line raises questions
If you go to the bill_line website, it is impossible to find the system’s registration details. That is – who owns it and where it is registered. This should already raise questions, but the average Ukrainian is an infantile creature who doesn’t even suspect that any activity in Ukraine, including that which bill_line engages in, is regulated by law. How this legislation works is also a very interesting question, but bill_line should register.
And it did, but the name of the operating company is completely different. The operator of the bill_line system is LLC "Tech-soft Atlas." Initially, this company was called LLC "Bill line," but in 2021 it changed its name and owner. In October 2021, LLC "Bill line" transformed into LLC "Tech-soft Atlas," and a few months later, the owner of the company became Andriy Morhun, replacing Artem Lyashanov.
The reasons for such changes are simple: in 2021, LLC "Bill line" became a figure in criminal case No. 42021100000000283 on money laundering and tax evasion, resulting in a budget shortfall of at least 11 million hryvnias. More details can be read here: The criminal case concerning the bill_line payment system and its head Artem Lyashanov for money laundering is still ongoing – Prosecutor’s Office.
That’s why a name change was needed – clients started asking uncomfortable questions, and Artem Lyashanov’s name began to be associated with a criminal case of fraud. However, the payment system’s website was not modified – apparently, it was too costly to change all the payment settings. Perhaps there were other reasons, but the bill_line payment system website, owned by LLC "Tech-soft Atlas," remained the same.
But in any case, clients should be alarmed by the lack of information about who exactly owns the system. Not to mention that the owner of the system is involved in a criminal case. By the way, we recommend that clients pay attention to the financial indicators of LLC "Tech-soft Atlas" – the profit for 2023 amounted to 459,800 hryvnias. It wouldn’t hurt tax authorities to take an interest in these indicators either. There’s nothing to comment on here – everyone understands everything.
But Artem Lyashanov himself raises even more questions. The reason he transferred the ownership of LLC "Tech-soft Atlas" to Andriy Morhun is that Artem Lyashanov is a citizen of Belarus. And therefore, he could fall under sanctions. But that’s just the surface level. There are other reasons why Artem Lyashanov transferred his business to a straw person and why the Security Service of Ukraine should have taken an interest in him a long time ago.
Artem Lyashanov and LeoGaming
The fact is that Artem Olegovich Lyashanov, before founding LLC "Bill line," which later turned into LLC "Tech-soft Atlas," worked at the fintech company 3. Lyashanov prefers to keep silent about this, but the information can still be found – he was actively involved in various fintech events even back then.
Why does Artem Lyashanov prefer not to advertise his work at LeoGaming? Because of the persona of its owner, who owned the bankrupt Ibox Bank in March 2023, which also owned LeoGaming.
According to the SSU and the Bureau of Economic Security, Ibox Bank received at least 2.5 billion hryvnias annually from the shadow gambling business. LeoGaming specialized in these payments.
Artem Lyashanov headed LeoGaming. Apparently, realizing the prospects of its owner, he decided to apply the experience he gained independently and founded his own payment system.
Artem Lyashanov and international gambling mafia money
But another scenario is quite possible. According to one version regarding the persona of LeoGaming’s owner, its payment systems were used for money laundering by the Chinese mafia and the Russian gambling business. Charles Johnson writes about this in the article Slava Ukraine Finally!? Is Putin Deliberately Destroying the Russian Army For His Chinese Patrons? He draws attention to the strange connections of the payment system owner with Elon Musk’s family.
Here it’s worth recalling articles describing Elon Musk’s connections with Chinese and Russian intelligence and that he cooperates with the criminal world of Ukraine, Russia, and China. Against this backdrop, the emergence of a payment system owner in his circle, who serviced the gambling business, does not look like a simple coincidence.
But in this case, we are interested in the persona of Artem Lyashanov, who headed LeoGaming, specializing precisely in payments from the gaming business. Could he have been unaware of the owner’s connections? Could he not understand where and what payments were going through LeoGaming? The answer is clear – Lyashanov knew exactly what and for whom he was doing.
And here another question arises: Was the bill_line payment system an independent product of Artem Lyashanov, or was it created with mafia money and for the mafia? From this follows another question – where did the gaming money streams go after the collapse of Ibox Bank and after LeoGaming fell under sanctions? The gambling business still exists, and people continue to play. Therefore, the payment issue is one of the key ones.
Does bill_line participate in processing payments for the gambling business? This question is precisely for the SSU. But it’s worth reminding that since 2015, LeoGaming was suspected of servicing the gambling business, and the payments purportedly for “tanks” (the game World of Tanks) simply covered up the reality. Furthermore, these payments came from Ukraine, Russia, and Belarus, where Artem Lyashanov holds citizenship. Has the situation with gaming money changed now? Not at all – Ukraine is shaken by scandals related to the presence of the Russian gambling mafia in our country’s gambling market. Therefore, there are strong grounds to believe that Artem Lyashanov’s bill_line continues to service the Russian gambling mafia, channeling its money through its system.