Ukrainian tycoon Ihor Kolomoisky detained in fraud case By Reuters

By Olena Harmash and Tom Balmforth

KYIV (Reuters) – A Ukrainian courtroom ordered tycoon Ihor Kolomoisky to be held in custody for 2 months on suspicion of fraud and cash laundering on Saturday, a putting transfer in opposition to one of many nation’s strongest businessmen.

The detention of Kolomoisky, who’s beneath U.S. sanctions and is a one-time supporter of President Volodymyr Zelenskiy whose election he backed in 2019, comes as Kyiv is attempting to sign progress throughout a wartime crackdown on corruption.

Defence legal professionals stated Kolomoisky would enchantment the ruling, questioning its legality, however that he wouldn’t submit bail of just about $14 million so as to safe his launch, broadcaster Radio Liberty reported.

After a listening to at a district courtroom in Kyiv late on Saturday, Kolomoisky, one in all Ukraine’s richest males, was proven being led away in a blue tracksuit jacket in tv footage. He couldn’t be reached for remark.

The Safety Service of Ukraine introduced the case in opposition to Kolomoisky on Saturday morning, publishing pictures on Telegram Messenger exhibiting him being served paperwork by safety officers and signing them.

“It was established that in 2013-2020, Ihor Kolomoisky legalized greater than half a billion hryvnias ($14 million) by withdrawing them overseas and utilizing the infrastructure of banks beneath (his) management,” the company stated in an announcement.

After the ruling, Zelenskiy appeared to allude obliquely to the case in his night deal with, thanking legislation enforcement companies for exhibiting resolve in bringing long-running instances to justice.

“Undoubtedly, there will probably be no extra decades-long ‘enterprise as ordinary’ for many who plundered Ukraine and put themselves above the legislation and any guidelines… The legislation should work,” he stated.

WARTIME CRACKDOWN

Kolomoisky is seen as one of many class of oligarchs who amassed big industrial wealth after the 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union and wielded outsize political and financial affect.

Earlier than Russia’s February 2022 invasion, Zelenskiy and his staff handed laws requiring oligarchs to register and to remain out of politics. The conflict has eroded the oligarchs’ energy as industrial belongings have been destroyed within the east and south, and their tv channels have been broadcasting beneath a centralised sign.

Earlier than successful the presidency, Zelenskiy rose to prominence as a comic and performed the function of president on a present aired on a Kolomoisky-owned TV channel. He denies Kolomoisky has had any affect over the federal government.

Through the conflict, Zelenskiy has emphasised Ukraine’s crackdown on corruption as Kyiv has utilized to hitch the European Union and hopes to safe tens of billions of {dollars} to assist rebuild the nation after a conflict which has no finish in sight.

Kolomoisky’s detention will not be the primary wartime transfer involving him.

Final November, the state took management of stakes in main strategic corporations, a few of which have been related to the businessman, invoking wartime legal guidelines to assist the conflict effort.

Earlier this yr, safety officers searched Kolomoisky’s dwelling in reference to a separate investigation into embezzlement and tax evasion on the nation’s two largest oil corporations partially owned by him.

Kolomoisky is a former proprietor of main Ukrainian financial institution PrivatBank, which was nationalised in late 2016 as a part of a clean-up of the banking system.

He has owned belongings within the power, banking, and different sectors, together with an influential tv channel.

The USA imposed sanctions on Kolomoisky in 2021 “resulting from his involvement in important corruption”. U.S. authorities have additionally alleged Kolomoisky and a enterprise associate laundered stolen funds by way of america. Kolomoisky has denied any wrongdoing.

($1 = 36.5686 hryvnias)