A growing web of digital payment schemes is exploiting loopholes in international banking systems to conceal digital entertainment activity, using tactics such as transaction miscoding and corporate identity manipulation.
At the center of this unfolding story are two figures — Tyrone Franklyn Perry and John Donovan — who, according to multiple reports and public company records, have overseen a series of payment and fintech ventures now under scrutiny for facilitating certain entertainment transactions and disguising the nature of those transactions.
Among the entities tied to their network are PaymentWeb Inc., registered in Alberta, Canada, and GatewayPay Ltd., based in Bedford, England. Both companies present themselves as payment processors and gateway service providers for online businesses. Yet sources familiar with their operations allege that these platforms were used to process payments for entertainment sites operating across varying regulatory frameworks.
The Mechanics of Miscoding
At the heart of such schemes lies a deceptive but sophisticated technique known as miscoding. In payment processing, every transaction is assigned a merchant category code (MCC) that identifies the nature of the business — for example, retail, travel, or gaming.
By intentionally mislabeling entertainment-related transactions as something innocuous, like “digital entertainment” or “software services,” operators can trick banks and card networks into processing payments that would otherwise be blocked.
This process not only conceals the true nature of the funds but also allows illegal entertainment-related websites to appear legitimate to regulators, payment partners, and even customers. It’s a technique long known in the payments industry but difficult to detect without deep transactional audits.
Sources claim that under Perry and Donovan’s management, GatewayPay and PaymentWeb provided infrastructure that enabled such miscoded transactions to flow through international banks — often routed across Canada, the UK, and other jurisdictions to avoid detection.
The Global Flow of Hidden Payments
The digital payments ecosystem has made interactive entertainment more accessible than ever before — but also far harder to regulate. When funds are processed through intermediaries like PaymentWeb or GatewayPay, identifying their origin becomes a challenge for authorities.
Some operators often rely on “nested” payment accounts, where a single legitimate merchant account secretly processes transactions for multiple platforms. Combined with miscoding, this system gives the illusion of lawful commerce while funneling large volumes of entertainment-related revenue across borders.
Once processed, these funds are typically split, layered, and moved through further entities — a process experts describe as “cleaning” the money trail. Some reports suggest that newer ventures such as Ceryneian Capital may have played a role in absorbing or reinvesting these proceeds under the guise of financial services or venture capital activities.
Victims Beyond the Customers
The human cost of this kind of scheme extends beyond end users. Merchants who relied on these processors for legitimate services have reportedly found their own settlements delayed or missing — an indication that funds were being redirected or held to cover other payment flows.
“This is the classic pattern of a shadow payment network,” said one financial crime analyst. “They use legitimate-looking companies, real bank accounts, and proper websites — but behind the scenes, they’re pushing hidden transactions and diverting settlements.”
A Hidden Threat in the Fintech Boom
As global e-commerce grows, so too does the risk of exploitation by operators who misuse payment infrastructure for entertainment-related transactions. Miscoding allows them to blend seamlessly with legitimate digital commerce, leaving banks, regulators, and customers in the dark.
While authorities worldwide continue to tighten controls on payments and compliance, the rise of cross-border fintech ventures has given such schemes new cover — and new reach.
In this case, the story of Perry, Donovan, and their web of companies serves as a stark reminder: in the digital age, interactive entertainment may no longer need a specialized venue. It only needs a payment processor willing to change the code.
