WhiteRock Founder Arrested in UAE Over $30M ZKasino Scam
United Arab Emirates law enforcement agents have arrested WhiteRock Finance decentralized finance (DeFi) project founder Ildar Ilham on charges related to a $30-million ZKasino scam case with the crypto exchange platform ZKasino.
ZachXBT Trails Ilham to ZKasino
Crypto journalist ZachXBT reported on Thursday that Ilham was detained in the UAE after a probe of widespread fraud relating to ZKasino. The platform had collected $30 million from investors with promises of token airdrops, but the funds still haven’t been refunded over a year later.
ZachXBT’s research points towards a direct connection between WhiteRock and the funding scam of ZKasino, as additional evidence to earlier assertions made in April 2024 by the Dutch authorities.
Extradition to Netherlands Underway
Ilham’s detention comes more than a year after Dutch police arrested a 26-year-old individual — reportedly Elham Nourzai — on charges of fraud, embezzlement, and money laundering against the ZKasino project.
Ilham is reportedly extradited to the Netherlands to be charged in the same investigation. Another individual, Lior Ben Zakan, also believed to be involved, remains to be arrested.
WhiteRock Token Plummets After Arrest
Ilham’s arrest brought a shock market reaction into motion. WhiteRock’s indigenous coin, WHITE, fell by over 40% in value from $0.0006582 to $0.0003909 on Thursday.
The sudden fall points to investor anxiety over the project’s future with the continuing legal wars.
Wider Crackdown on Crypto Fraud
The ZKasino case is only one of a series of high-profile crypto fraud investigations in recent months. U.S. authorities also seized $40,000 in another scam, a fake inaugural committee that defrauded over $250,000 from a donor.
As crypto fraud receives closer scrutiny by international law enforcement, arrests like Ilham’s remind us of the even more dangerous landscape for scammers in DeFi.
