Ildar Ilham, the founder of decentralized finance (DeFi) protocol WhiteRock Finance, has been taken into custody in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in connection with allegations of a $30 million scam linked to ZKasino. Crypto sleuth ZachXBT reported the arrest on Thursday via X, noting that Ilham's detainment is related to an investigation into "wide-scale fraud" surrounding ZKasino.

The ZKasino platform launched in April 2024, promising users an airdrop of its native token. The project raised approximately $30 million in Ethereum during a pre-sale, with funds intended for platform development and distribution of the ZKAS token. However, the platform seemingly disappeared within months, with users reporting a lack of reimbursement and silence from the team. Investors were left holding illiquid tokens exchanged from their original ETH, leading to accusations of an exit scam.

ZachXBT's investigation suggested a connection between WhiteRock and ZKasino's $30 million fundraising. He highlighted red flags around WhiteRock, including an anonymous team, false claims about partnerships, and commingled fund flows. ZachXBT also linked WhiteRock's marketing wallet to the $30 million allegedly stolen from the ZKasino gambling platform. In a June 16 post on X, ZachXBT stated that at least one team member from the $30M ZKasino exit scam appeared to be involved with WhiteRock, citing on-chain transactions and a personal email address linking the projects.

Following Ilham's arrest in the UAE, extradition proceedings to the Netherlands are reportedly underway. Dutch authorities seek to bring Ilham to justice on charges of aggravated fraud, embezzlement, and money laundering. This is the second arrest in the ZKasino case; in April 2024, Dutch authorities arrested Elham Nourzai, allegedly a crypto personality, on similar charges related to the ZKasino scam, though Nourzai was later released pending trial. Lior Ben Zakan, another individual suspected of involvement, was not mentioned in the arrest report.

The news of Ilham's arrest has had a significant impact on WhiteRock's native token, WHITE. Following reports of his detainment, the price of WHITE plummeted over 40% on Thursday, dropping from $0.0006582 to $0.0003909. Over the past month, the token has fallen by nearly 60%. Prior to the arrest, WHITE had experienced a surge, increasing by over 116% on May 30 due to rumors of a potential partnership with a Saudi Arabian oil company.

The ZKasino case and the arrest of Ildar Ilham serve as a reminder of the risks associated with investing in DeFi projects. ZachXBT had previously warned about WhiteRock and its team, citing the high risk of a "rug pull" due to their history with other projects like Syncus and Zigzag. This case is one of the latest scams targeting crypto users. Recently, U.S. authorities reported recovering approximately $40,000 of over $250,000 stolen from an individual who donated to a fraudulent inaugural committee.