WhiteRock Founder Linked to $30 Million Zkasino Scam Arrested in UAE

Less than a month after being connected to the $30 million Zkasino scam, the founder of DeFi protocol WhiteRock, Ildar Ilham, has been taken into custody in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

Following his arrest, the 21-year-old, also known as Prometheus on X, is set to be extradited to the Netherlands for trial, following the issuance of an Interpol Red Notice on March 6.

Onchain sleuth ZachXBT publicly addressed Illham’s connection with Zkasino in June, when he said, “At least one team member from the $30M Zkasino exit scam appears to be involved with the project @WhiteRock_Fi WHITE due to onchain transactions linking both projects and a personal email address.”

Zkasino originally raised $33 million via a presale in 2024, but contributors were left furious after the funds were staked with Lido Finance instead of being returned. It’s worth noting that this is not the team’s first run-in with controversy, as ZachXBT referred to them as “proven bad actors” as far back as 2023.

Onchain evidence shows the commingling of stolen Zkasino funds and the WhiteRock marketing wallet.

WhiteRock, which launched its token in November 2024, also bears its fair share of red flags, with Zach saying, “I think the risk of a rug with WhiteRock remains high due to their history with other projects,” and calling on centralized exchanges to delist the WHITE token.

WHITE, which launched at a $30 million market capitalization, reached a $2 billion market cap in June but now trades at a valuation of $490 million. While the website claims a total value locked (TVL) of over $150 million, the claim is not verifiable through trusted data sources.