UAE authorities dock WhiteRock founder over $30M ZKasino fraud - Coinfea

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) law enforcement has arrested WhiteRock founder Ildar Ilham, according to a social media post shared by blockchain investigator ZachXBT. Ilham was arrested after he became a person of interest over his alleged involvement in the ZKasino exit scam, which stole $30 million.

According to the notice shared by ZachXBT, Ilham was arrested by the authorities in the UAE, who then contacted the Netherlands to inform them of the arrest. He will reportedly be extradited to the country where he will face criminal charges. The ZKasino project he was involved in was marketed as a decentralized gambling platform and raised over $30 million in presale funds last year. However, it failed to deliver, and the team allegedly resorted to diverting investor funds.

UAE authorities arrest Ildar Ilham in connection with the ZKasino scam

This arrest comes months after Elham Nourzai, another key figure linked to the plot, was arrested by Dutch authorities last year in April. Nourzai was later released, after which the stolen funds suddenly started getting laundered on-chain via networks like ZkSync, Starknet, Ethereum, and Solana. Victims of the scam have been expressing their satisfaction at the arrest, taking to the comment section of the post to share their thoughts.

ZachXBT first made the connection when he revealed a link between at least one team member from the $30M ZKasino exit scam and the WhiteRock project by tracing on-chain transactions linking both projects and a personal email address. According to ZachXBT, WhiteRock (WHITE) burst onto the scene late last year, complete with a number of large red flags that did not go unnoticed.

The on-chain investigator highlighted some of those red flags, including an anonymous team with no history, fake partnerships, and many side wallets funded via instant exchanges. The investigator was also able to find Ildar’s connection to WhiteRock after contacting an influencer who was paid via a WhiteRock marketing wallet. ZachXBT also found that the wallet had funds with stolen ZKasino bounty.

There were also several transactions between late February and early March 2025 in which ZKasino funds were transferred to an instant exchange, with WhiteRock wallets receiving similar quantities from other instant exchanges via XMR. Despite its shady prospects, WhiteRock has yet to pull a rug, but ZachXBT believes that Ildar’s connection with the project, as well as the project’s history with names like ZKasino, means there is a high possibility that it will eventually happen.