Kyiv [Ukraine]: Ukraine's powerful business tycoon Ihor Kolomoisky has been arrested in a fraud and money laundering investigation on Saturday, CNN reported citing state media.
The State Department sanctioned Kolomoisky in March 2021 for his alleged involvement in “corrupt acts that undermined the rule of law and the Ukrainian public’s faith in their government’s democratic institutions and public processes.”
A Kyiv court ordered Kolomoisky to 60 days in pre-trial detention, meanwhile, the authorities are investigating fraud charges against him.
One of the most powerful oligarchs Kolomoisky's media and banking businesses have made him one of the richest men in Ukraine.
The US State Department has also accused him of using his "political influence and power for personal benefit," reported CNN.Â
Following that, the Shevchenkivskyi District Court ordered Kolomoisky to be held until October 31 and was provided the option of posting bail in excess of 500 million Ukrainian hryvnia (USD 14 million), CNN reported citing state media.
Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy during an address on Saturday thanked law enforcement following the arrest of Kolomoisky.
According to a Ukrainian online newspaper Kyiv Independent, "I thank the Ukrainian law enforcement for their determination to bring every case stalled for decades to a just conclusion," Zelensky said, adding that the law "must work."
Additionally, Zelenskyy promised that there will be "no more decades-long 'business as usual' for those who plundered Ukraine and put themselves above the law and any rules," reported Kyiv Independent.
According to a state report, "If the businessman posts bail, he must fulfil a number of conditions – not leave the locality where he will be staying, appear for interrogations, and notify the relevant authorities of any change of residence, if any, CNN reported.
Moreover, the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) and Ukraine’s Bureau of Economic Security have started an investigation on Kolomoisky for fraud and laundering of criminally obtained property, reported CNN.
However, Ukraine’s Prosecutor General’s Office is supervising the pre-trial investigation which will focus on Kolomoisky’s alleged role in the money laundering of over half a billion Ukrainian hryvnia (USD 130.5 million) by transferring funds abroad between 2013 and 2020 by allegedly using banks under his control.
—ANI