Igor Kolomoisky was arrested for fraud
Billionaire arrested by Kyiv court for withdrawing $13.5 million from Ukraine through controlled banks
The Shevchenko court of Kyiv arrested businessman Igor Kolomoisky with the possibility of posting a bail of 509 million UAH ($13.7 million), Strana.ua reports. The arrest period is until October 31.
The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) filed suspicions against Kolomoisky under Art. 190 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (“Fraud”) and Art. 209 (“Legalization (laundering) of property obtained by criminal means”). The maximum penalty for each of them is 12 years in prison with confiscation of property.
According to investigators, the businessman in 2013–2020 legalized over UAH 500 million, transferring it abroad through banks controlled by him.
Vedomosti.Ru, 09/04/2023, “What does the arrest of billionaire Kolomoisky in Ukraine mean”: According to a September 2 report from the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU), he is charged with illegally withdrawing more than 500 million hryvnia abroad in 2013–2020. The case is classified under articles of fraud and legalization of property obtained by criminal means. […] Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky responded to Kolomoisky’s arrest in his Telegram channel: “There will no longer be many years of “business as usual” for those who robbed Ukraine.”
On the evening of September 3, adviser to the office of the president of the country, Sergei Leshenko, published materials according to which Kolomoisky has citizenship of Israel and Cyprus, but has already been deprived of Ukrainian citizenship. At the same time, at the hearing of the Shevchenko court, the businessman was still called a “citizen of Ukraine.” Previously, information about the deprivation of Kolomoisky’s Ukrainian citizenship appeared only in local media and in the materials of Verkhovna Rada deputy Sergei Vlasenko, who published a scan of the relevant presidential decree. This information has not been officially confirmed. — Insert K.ru
The trial to select a preventive measure was held behind closed doors; before the hearing, Kolomoisky stated that he absolutely disagreed with the charges. His lawyer Alexander Lysak later said that the businessman would not post bail, but was going to appeal the court’s decision.
Forbes estimates Kolomoisky’s fortune at $1 billion. The businessman is the founder of Privatbank, nationalized in 2016, and he was also the largest shareholder of the oil refining company Ukrtatnafta and the oil and gas company Ukrnafta, which were also nationalized. In 2014–2015, Kolomoisky was the governor of the Dnipropetrovsk region.
Forbes.ru, 02.09.2023, “The court in Kyiv arrested businessman Igor Kolomoisky”: The meeting was held behind closed doors; the businessman’s defense requested this. Kolomoisky himself, when asked whether he agreed with the accusation, said: “Well, of course not. Absolutely”. — Insert K.ru
In February of this year, Kolomoisky’s home was searched. They were connected with the case of fraud in Ukrtatnafta and Ukrnafta. As a result of the searches, the SBU stated that it had “exposed large-scale schemes of misappropriation of 40 billion UAH by the former management” of oil and gas enterprises. There are ten episodes in this case, in particular the transfer of large quantities of petroleum products to affiliated companies, tax evasion and the creation of bad debts from factories.
Kolomoisky has previously faced searches due to cases related to these companies – for example, in September 2022, they took place as part of an investigation into the misappropriation of Ukrnafta funds.
A criminal case against Kolomoisky has also been opened in Russia. According to domestic investigators, the businessman, together with his partner Gennady Bogolyubov, the head of the DCH investment group Alexander Yaroslavsky and the chairman of the board of Ukrtatnafta Pavel Ovcharenko, organized a “criminal community” that appropriated “for mercenary purposes” more than 800 thousand tons of oil for a total amount of more than $400 million , which was produced by Tatneft. In connection with this case, Kolomoisky was arrested in absentia in November last year.
The Insider, 02.09.2023, “Ukrainian oligarch Igor Kolomoisky was arrested by court decision”: In March 2021, the United States imposed sanctions against a Ukrainian oligarch and his family on charges of corruption as governor of the Dnepropetrovsk region of Ukraine. Kolomoisky, as well as his wife, daughter and son, were banned from entering the United States. Then US Secretary of State Antony Blinken accused the oligarch of trying to undermine the democratic processes and institutions of Ukraine, “which pose a serious threat to the future” of the country.
Also, the US Federal Grand Jury was investigating Kolomoisky’s laundering of “hundreds of millions of dollars.” In 2017, the High Court of London arrested the assets of the former owners of the Ukrainian Privatbank, including Kolomoisky, around the world. The oligarch, according to the financial structure itself, which was nationalized in 2016 by order of the then President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko, withdrew more than $2.5 billion from it, including interest. — Insert K.ru