One of the more significant incidents to hit the iGaming affiliate space in recent years landed on May 20, 2026, when law enforcement conducted a large-scale operation at Royal Partners' offices in Minsk, Belarus. The fallout has been swift and serious: payment systems suspended across 18 brands, executive detentions, equipment seized, and a week of near-total silence from the company before a partial statement on May 27.

If you are currently sending traffic to any Royal Partners brand — or have outstanding commission payments from them — this is a situation you need to understand fully.

Who Is Royal Partners?

Royal Partners is a direct advertiser and affiliate programme that has operated since 2017. Rather than running a traditional affiliate network that aggregates third-party offers, they are the operator behind their own portfolio of casino brands. The programme has been well regarded within the CIS affiliate space in particular, with a reputation for competitive RevShare and CPA terms.

Their brand portfolio includes Sol Casino, Fresh Casino, Starda Casino, Irwin Casino, Iris Casino, Legzo Casino, Izzi Casino, Rox Casino, Jet Casino, Fugu Casino, and a number of others — 18 brands in total across the network.

The Timeline of Events

May 20, 2026 — Morning: Law enforcement, including SWAT personnel, conducted searches at Royal Partners' offices in Minsk. The operation ran from early morning until approximately noon. Equipment was removed, and a number of employees were detained and questioned.

May 20 — Afternoon/Evening: Most employees who had been detained were released. However, reports indicate that several senior figures remain in pretrial detention. Contact across the organisation became severely disrupted, with phones reportedly confiscated from many employees and managers.

May 20–26: Near-complete silence from Royal Partners officially. Affiliates reaching out to account managers received either no response or brief non-committal replies.

May 21–26: All payment systems across the Royal Partners brand portfolio were reported as disabled. Affiliate payments stopped. Player-facing withdrawals halted. Customer support across the brands became unresponsive.

May 27, 2026: Royal Partners issued its first official statement. The company confirmed it has temporarily suspended the acceptance and processing of traffic and instructed all affiliates to pause active campaigns immediately, noting that traffic sent during the suspension period cannot be guaranteed for payment.

What Do We Know About the Reason?

Two explanations have circulated through industry channels. The first, emerging from an internal company call shared widely in affiliate forums, is that the raid was triggered by unpaid taxes. According to this account, Belarusian tax authorities initiated the enforcement action and the company's legal team is actively working to address the matter.

The second theory pointed to issues with cross-border cryptocurrency payments — specifically payment flows between Russia, Belarus, and what was described as "the civilised world." Given the geopolitical context and the ongoing international sanctions environment, this is a plausible secondary angle even if unconfirmed.

Neither Belarusian authorities nor Royal Partners have issued an official statement confirming the specific grounds for the investigation.

The Immediate Operational Impact

Traffic and campaigns: Royal Partners has explicitly instructed affiliates to pause all active campaigns. Traffic sent during the suspension cannot be guaranteed for payment — continuing to send traffic means incurring costs with no certainty of compensation.

Pending affiliate payments: Any outstanding commissions — whether RevShare accruals or unpaid CPAs — are currently in a holding pattern. The company says it is conducting a reconciliation process before resuming payments, but has given no timeline.

Brand functionality: Across the 18 brands in the portfolio, payment processing is down. Players sent to these brands cannot deposit or withdraw properly, meaning conversion tracking and CPA-triggering actions may not be recording correctly.

What Should Affiliates Do Right Now?

  • Pause all Royal Partners campaigns immediately. There is no upside to continuing to drive traffic to brands that cannot process payments, and the company has itself asked you to stop.
  • Audit your outstanding balances. Pull your affiliate dashboard data, record exactly what is owed — total accrued RevShare, unpaid CPAs, and the periods they cover. Export and save this data.
  • Redirect your traffic. Assess which traffic flows were going to Royal Partners brands and pivot them toward comparable programmes currently operating normally.
  • Don't write off the debt yet. The company has stated its intent to honour financial obligations. Keep communication channels open and document outstanding balances in writing.
  • Monitor official communications. Watch Royal Partners' official channels — website, Telegram, social — and industry publications for developments.

What Are Other Affiliates Doing?

Across industry forums including GPWA, the consensus recommendation has been consistent: redirect traffic immediately, preserve documentation of outstanding balances, and avoid continuing to send traffic in hopes of capturing earnings before the blackout ends.

There has been significant discussion about the implications for CPA affiliates specifically, who may have driven qualifying deposits that are yet to be paid out. Whether those are honoured once operations resume — and under what terms — remains one of the key open questions in the community.

The Bigger Picture: CIS-Based Affiliate Programmes

Companies operating primarily in CIS jurisdictions — Belarus, Russia, Ukraine — face a regulatory and enforcement environment that differs substantially from what affiliates experience when working with Malta Gaming Authority or UK Gambling Commission licensees. MGA-licensed operators face formal compliance obligations around affiliate payments and player funds. Belarusian-based operations do not have the same framework.

For affiliates building out or reassessing their programme mix, the Royal Partners situation is a useful prompt to look at what jurisdiction each programme is primarily operating under — not just where they are licensed to offer games, but where the corporate entity responsible for paying you is actually based.

What Happens Next?

The most likely near-term scenarios:

  • Relatively quick resolution: If the issue is primarily tax-related and the company reaches a settlement with authorities, operations could begin to normalise within weeks.
  • Prolonged investigation: If the enforcement action expands — particularly if it involves criminal proceedings against senior management — the timeline could stretch to months.
  • Partial restoration: Some operations resume (perhaps affiliate payments from the reconciliation process) while other aspects remain frozen pending legal proceedings.

We will continue to update this page as information becomes available.

This article draws on reporting from AffPapa, GPWA, Reform.news, TheGamblest, and industry Telegram channels. Some details have not been officially confirmed by Royal Partners or Belarusian authorities. This is not legal advice — affiliates with significant outstanding payments may wish to consult a lawyer familiar with cross-border commercial debt recovery.