The operator of the WebMoney payment system in Ukraine is suspected of illegally operating with documents regarding remittances, payment cards, electronic money, equipment for their production (part 1 of Article 200 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine) and money laundering (Part 3 of Article 209 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine).

A report of the Income and Tax Ministry of Ukraine issued on Friday says that at present, the officers of the investigation department and operations staff of the ministry are conducting a pretrial investigation into a criminal case under the said articles of the Criminal Code of Ukraine.

"The operation of the operator of the WebMoney payment system in Ukraine in the form it was carried out on the territory of the state is not in line with the requirements of Ukrainian law. In particular, these are the requirements of the law on payment systems and funds transfers in Ukraine and several by-laws regulating the issue, circulation and use of the electronic money," the ministry said.

The ministry said amendments to the laws on the functioning of payment systems and development of cashless payments took effect on October 18, 2012, although the commercial structure, which supported the operation of the WebMoney payment system in Ukraine, did not bring its operations into line with the new requirements of the law.

The ministry said that it is ready to support operation of legal and transparent payment systems that are recognized in the world.

"As a part of measures on the reduction of the shadow economy the ministry is strengthening control over operation of payment systems and as a whole over the transactions with the use of electronic money monitoring the observation of the requirements of Ukrainian law," reads the report.

According to the report, the task is imposed on the ad hoc division for preventing tax crimes using newest technologies, which is functioning in the structure of the chief operation department of the Income and Tax Ministry.

"We call on citizens be careful in the selection of payments systems and check the licenses and other permits on financial operation in Ukraine on the official Web site of the National Bank of Ukraine," the ministry said.

As reported, state tax officers on June 11 were searching WebMoney's Kyiv office.

Some media reports said that the search was also conducted at places of residence of some top managers of the company.

Ukraine's Income and Tax Ministry of Ukraine achieved the blocking of UAH 60 million on accounts related to WebMoney due to infringements in the operation of WebMoney Transfer LLC in Ukraine. Later WebMoney said that its operations were restored in full and called on clients not to panic, although users continue posting complaints on forums.