UKRAINIAN oligarch Ihor Kolomoysky, known for supporting President Vladimir Zelenskyy, is facing serious legal charges after his country’s National Anti-Corruption Bureau accused him of embezzling $250 million from Privatbank, a bank he used to control.
According to the anti-corruption bureau, Kolomoysky and five others allegedly orchestrated an illegal scheme in 2015 to take $250 million from Privatbank.
They purportedly pretended to buy the bank’s bonds at inflated prices, funneling the money to a company controlled by Kolomoysky.
These funds were then used to finance one of Kolomoysky’s offshore companies and increase his stake in Privatbank.
Ukraine’s Anti-Corruption Bureau has not revealed the identities of the other suspects involved.
This comes after recent allegations that Kolomoysky laundered and moved over 13 million dollars abroad, using his influence over banking institutions he controlled, according to Ukrainian Security Services (SBU).
These actions involve the illegal acquisition of assets obtained through criminal means.
Kolomoysky was arrested last Saturday, September 2, and a court has ordered him to be detained for two months, with a bail set at $13.8 million.
His legal team plans to challenge the arrest, and a hearing is scheduled for later this month.
Ihor Kolomoysky rose to prominence in Ukraine in 2014 when he served as the governor of the Southeastern Dnepropetrovsk region following the Maidan coup.
However, his tenure was short-lived, as he was dismissed a year later due to conflicts with then-Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko.
In 2016, Ukrainian authorities nationalized Privatbank, owned by Kolomoysky, citing extensive fraud and a threat to the country’s financial system.
Kolomoysky’s influence on President Vladimir Zelenskyy’s rise to power has been scrutinized.
Zelensky, a former comedian, had a television show called “Servant of the People” hosted by a media holding controlled by Kolomoysky.
While the oligarch publicly supported Zelenskyy’s presidential campaign, he has denied any significant personal ties to the current Ukrainian president.
However, a Kyiv independent article reported that it was Zelenskyy’s party that started passing laws banning the return of seized banks to their ex-owners and forcing oligarchs to register in a state database.
After the start of Russia’s so-called special military operation, Kolomoisky reportedly saw his take in oil refining companies.
Ukrtatnafta and Ukrnafta— nationalized by the state, while his passport was allegedly stripped with Zelensky’s undisclosed decree.
