Billionaire Bakhmatyuk accused of billion-dollar theft from NBU: how oligarch could withdraw fortune

Ukrainian billionaire Oleg Bakhmatyuk is at risk of facing a real sentence in the case of the theft of 1.2 billion hryvnias through VAB Bank. As part of the investigation former top manager of the bank Bakhmatyuk was arrested in absentia, who, like the billionaire himself, is hiding abroad. While Bakhmatyuk continues to give interviews from Vienna, talking about the difficult situation in Ukraine, a special anti-corruption prosecutor’s office seems to have taken up in earnest the exposure of the latifundist’s schemes.

Read about what is the “banking case” of Bakhmatyuk and where 1.2 billion UAH have gone, read the article OBOZREVATEL.

Loans with dubious collateral: how Bakhmatyuk took money from the NBU and did not return them

Bakhmatyuk for his VAB Bank in 2014 received a stabilization loan for 1.2 billion UAH. The money was to be used to ensure the stable operation of the financial institution. Under the rules, the NBU had to make sure that the money would be spent properly (approve the plan) and also get sufficient collateral.

Bakhmatyuk provided the bail, as did personal guarantees. But that same year, 2014, VAB Bank was shut down. The loan from the National Bank had already been withdrawn by that time, and the collateral, according to the NABU, does not cover the size of the loan. The value of the pledged property was overstated 25 times. Law enforcers have questions both to the employee of the National Bank (how could they not notice the withdrawal of funds and issue a loan without sufficient collateral) and to Bakhmatyuk himself and his managers.

The case was reinstated, and now the former deputy head of the NBU, Alexander Pisaruk, and the former head of VAB Bank, Denis Maltsev, risk ending up behind bars. The threat hangs over Bakhmatyuk himself, who by happy coincidence is now abroad.

Of course, Bakhmatyuk himself says that he was going to pay the loan back and repeatedly blamed ex-NBU head Valeriya Gontareva for closing the bank. And this version could have been believed if the National Bank’s money had really been used to stabilise the bank.

There is information in the court case materials about how billionaire Bakhmatyuk’s managers withdrew 1.2bn hryvnias from the bank. As soon as the money arrived in the account, the Cyprus-based Quickom Limited company demanded an early repayment of its loan worth about 680m hryvnyas. This company, according to the National Bank, is controlled by Oleh Bakhmatyuk.

That is, as soon as the billionaire received the money, he immediately decided to transfer it to the account of his Cyprus-based company. But that’s not all. Companies related to Bakhmatyuk received their deposits ahead of schedule (!) (Trostyanets Meat Factory, Svitanok). This is about 370 million hryvnias more. That is while ordinary people could withdraw not more than a thousand hryvnias from their accounts a day.

Another UAH 681m was returned to companies associated with Bakhmatyuk (the banks allegedly had debts to them). It follows that both the money from the National Bank and the depositors’ money on the eve of VAB Bank’s closure went to companies associated with Bakhmatyuk.

How billionaire Bakhmatyuk can be punished and why this is just a drop in the bucket

Bakhmatyuk took significantly more funds from the NBU for his banks. Law enforcers have now concentrated their efforts around the UAH 1.2bn case, it has actually already been investigated by the NABU, but changes in investigative jurisdiction (a few years ago the case was transferred to the police for no obvious reason) and attempts to close the investigation have significantly delayed the final denouement.

If all the charges are proven, Bakhmatyuk may be charged with fraud. And that’s a real sentence. Meanwhile, the billionaire’s total debt to the National Bank amounts to over UAH 8,6 billion (the figure was announced by the NBU after Bakhmatyuk’s two banks were liquidated).

But, apart from banking cases, billionaire Bakhmatyuk’s possible crimes are also being investigated in Ukraine and in international jurisdictions. For example, the international company Gramercy Funds Management LLC accused him of withdrawing almost 1 billion dollars of assets from UkrLandFarming Plc. As a result, the company’s bondholders suffered, including Gramercy itself.

Read more about other investigations into Bakhmatyuk soon on OBOZREVATEL. As for the issue of the withdrawal of funds from the NBU: if the NABU and SAP are to be believed, these crimes have already been proven. For many years, the banks of Ukrainian oligarchs have been used for money laundering and tax evasion. Moreover, these same banks received tens of billions of dollars from the NBU (actually budget money) ostensibly to stabilize their activities. However, as a result, the banks were closed with huge holes in the budget, and the loans were never repaid.

Bakhmatyuk’s case may become a showpiece. And after him, other oligarchs who own banks that have already been closed down may also suffer. OBOZREVATEL will continue to report on Bakhmatyuk’s case and will also soon publish data on other agrarian oligarchs.

TALE: Oleg Bakhmatyuk: the billionaire from the egg. PART 1.

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Oleg Bakhmatyuk’s eight days. Why one court arrested him and the other ordered to close the case

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