Authorities in the United Arab Emirates have arrested Ildar Ilham, the founder of the decentralized protocol WhiteRock Finance, on suspicion of involvement in a major fraud scheme connected to the ZKasino project. The case concerns the alleged misappropriation of $30 mln raised from investors. The investigation is linked to an earlier case launched in the Netherlands.
ZKasino Case Leads to Arrest
The arrest was reported by crypto investigator ZachXBT. According to him, Ilham is currently in custody facing charges related to "large-scale fraud" associated with ZKasino - a project that promised users a token airdrop in spring 2024 but failed to return the funds a year later.
Back in April 2024, Dutch authorities had already arrested 26-year-old Elham Nourzai. He was charged with fraud, money laundering, and embezzlement in connection with the same project. UAE authorities are now pursuing Ilham’s extradition to the Netherlands to consolidate the two cases.
Collapsed Token and Unresolved Questions
The ZKasino platform launched in April 2024. Shortly after, it began raising funds, promising users profit from system participation and the distribution of its own tokens. However, investors received neither their money back nor the promised assets.
Following news of Ilham’s arrest, the price of the WHITE token from WhiteRock plummeted by over 40%, dropping to $0.0003961.
