Royal Finance allegedly scammed several casinos and dozens of traders in Russia, with losses of RUB 55-65 million

Royal Finance, a payment service known in high-risk circles, has reportedly left merchants and traders short by RUB 55-65 million. For PSPs and operators, the part that matters is not the drama — it is the familiar pattern: long-running merchant relationships, large volumes, then a fast exit and a trail of unresolved obligations.

1. According to the source, Royal Finance worked with dozens of large casinos and had been operating in the market for more than 3 years, processing large volumes in the Russian market.
2. The reported damage is split between RUB 15 million owed to traders and RUB 50 million owed to merchants, with individual losses ranging from RUB 3 million to RUB 5 million. The source says these are only initial figures.
3. Some affected merchants had been working with the platform for more than 2 years, which makes this less of a one-off failed settlement story and more of a counterparty-risk problem that built up over time.
4. Days before the alleged scam, rumors were already circulating in the sector that the platform had stopped meeting its obligations to merchants. The source also says RF staff quickly changed their Telegram nicknames, some accounts were deleted, and chat histories were cleaned up.
5. The source notes that one Telegram channel had previously nicknamed Royal Finance “Land Rover” in a post about well-known Russian payment companies, describing it as an “adventure hero among cars.” That branding aged badly; the operational reality appears to have gone in a different direction.

For high-risk operators, the practical takeaway is simple: a PSP can look established, process meaningful volume, and still become a credit and settlement risk overnight. In this case, the reported exposure is tied to Russia, where Royal Finance had been active for more than 3 years.