Ukraine's Kolomoysky charged with embezzling $250mln
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The man who helped Volodymyr Zelensky become president is charged with embezzling hundreds of millions of dollars
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Igor Kolomoysky arrives at court (AFP)
Ukraine's National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) has announced charges against prominent Ukrainian oligarch Igor Kolomoysky and five of his associates, alleging their involvement in embezzling over 9.2 billion hryvnias (nearly $250 million) from PrivatBank.
The charges, unveiled on September 7, 2023, accuse Kolomoysky, the former ultimate beneficial owner of PrivatBank, of orchestrating a scheme to misappropriate the bank's funds during his tenure as the governor of Ukraine's southeastern region of Dnipropetrovsk from January to March 2015.
The alleged objective was to finance an offshore company and increase Kolomoysky's share in PrivatBank's authorized capital.
According to investigators, approximately 446 million hryvnias were clandestinely funneled to affiliated legal entities through transactions ostensibly related to the purchase and sale of securities, subsequently ending up in Kolomoysky's personal account.
These funds were then injected into Privat Bank's authorized capital, ostensibly in compliance with the requirements of the Bank of Ukraine.
The investigation into these allegations is ongoing and constitutes the fourth episode in the case of misappropriation of PrivatBank's funds, according to NABU.
In October 2022, NABU and the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office (SAP) declared that sufficient evidence had been collected in the previous three episodes to implicate the suspects, and they made the investigation materials public. The indictment for these charges was sent to court on September 6, 2023.
In addition to the legal proceedings, former Ukrainian lawmaker Igor Mosiychuk has indicated that actions are being taken to strip Kolomoysky of his corporate rights to the Ukrainian broadcaster 1+1, which he owns.
"A decision is being prepared to withdraw corporate rights to the 1+1 broadcaster and transfer them to the Ukrainian Agency for Search and Management of Assets," Mosiychuk said.
Igor Kolomoysky, a Ukrainian billionaire and the founder of the Privat industrial and financial group, has faced scrutiny and legal troubles related to PrivatBank for several years. Forbes Ukraine estimated his fortune at $1.8 billion in 2021 and $850 million in 2022.
In late 2016, the Ukrainian government decided to nationalize PrivatBank, the country's largest private bank, of which Kolomoysky was the main shareholder. The nationalization occurred amid allegations that the bank's former management had withdrawn significant sums of money under the pretext of loans to affiliated companies, leading to a financial crisis within the institution.
The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) said in a statement on Saturday that Kolomoysky laundered, between 2013 and 2020, over 500 million in Ukrainian currency ($13.5 million) by "transferring it abroad, while using the infrastructure of banking institutions controlled by him," describing him as the "de facto owner of a large financial and industrial group."
The powerful businessman, who holds a Cypriot citizenship and an Israeli passport, was handed a "notice of suspicion" on charges of fraud and laundry of property obtained by criminal means.
Zelensky announced his presidential candidacy in 2019 through Kolomoysky-controlled TV channel 1+1, the same channel that aired the President's comedy show "Servant of the People" in 2015 and offered him a platform to promote his campaign.
His campaign was highly supported by Igor Kolomoisky who has a hold over various key industries in the country, such as the heavy industry, oil and gas, media, ferrous metals and chemicals, agriculture, and air transport
Read more: Zelensky's fall to grace in the West.
But Zelensky has denied having personal ties to the businessman, describing their relationship as strictly professional.
The crackdown on Kolomoysky began earlier in February, when he became a suspect in an embezzlement case of 40 billion hryvnia ($1.1 billion), as well as tax evasion through his oil businesses.
Kolomoysky subsequently served as the governor of Ukraine's southeastern Dnepropetrovsk Region but faced dismissal when he initiated a campaign to privatize two state-owned energy companies.
In 2021, the United States imposed sanctions on the oligarch and his family members for his involvement "in corrupt acts that undermined the rule of law and the Ukrainian public’s faith in their government’s democratic institutions."
Kolomoysky has been denying Kiev's accusations.
