UAE authorities pick up WhiteRock founder for role in $30M ZKasino exit fraud

WhiteRock founder, Ildar Ilham, has been arrested by UAE law enforcement, according to a social media update first shared by the famous crypto sleuth ZachXBT. Ilham became a person of interest over his alleged involvement in the ZKasino exit scam, which swallowed a whopping $30 million. 

According to a red notice shared by ZachXBT on X, Ilham has been 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.

Update: Ildar Ilham aka @XBT_Prometheus (founder of @WhiteRock_Fi) was arrested by UAE law enforcement for his involvement in the $30M Zkasino exit scam.

He will be extradited to the Netherlands next for the criminal case. pic.twitter.com/h5FZhUBiDg

— ZachXBT (@zachxbt) July 3, 2025

Ildar’s arrest is the latest in connection with the ZKasino scam

Ildar’s arrest comes months after Elham Nourzai, another key figure linked to the plot, was nabbed 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.

Many of those who fell victim to the scam expressed satisfaction at Ildar’s arrest in the comment section of the post. 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.

Does Ildar’s connection to WhiteRock make it a scam?

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 sleuth was able to find Ildar’s connection to WhiteRock by reaching out to an influencer who was paid via a WhiteRock marketing wallet. ZachXBT also found that the wallet had a clear commingling of 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.

In a proactive push to get ahead of the potential rug pull, the crypto sleuth has called on MEXC and Gate.io to consider delisting WHITE and conduct enhanced due diligence on the team.