Ukrainian oligarch who backed Zelenskyy named as a suspect in fraud probe

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Influential Ukrainian oligarch Igor Kolomoisky, who backed Vladimir Zelensky’s presidential campaign, has been named as a suspect in the fraud and money laundering case.

Zelensky’s government is trying to bolster its anti-corruption credentials to assuage the concerns of Western allies, which have poured billions of dollars in economic and military support into the country following Russia’s all-out invasion.

“Igor Kolomoisky was notified of the alleged crime . . . “Fraud and legalization of property obtained by criminal means,” the Economic Security Service of Ukraine said on Saturday. “

In a separate statement, the SBU State Security Service said: “It is confirmed that between 2013 and 2020, Igor Kolomoisky took more than 500 million Ukrainian currency (Ukrainian currency) abroad, while using the infrastructure of controlled banking institutions to legitimize it.”.

Kolomoiski, who was notified of the suspicion in his hometown of Dnipro, wearing sweatpants and slippers, was not immediately available for comment, but has repeatedly denied past allegations of wrongdoing.

Kolomoisky is a banking, energy and media tycoon who backed Zelensky’s 2019 presidential bid. But the comedian-turned-president has since distanced himself from the oligarch, whose television channel has aired his hit comedy shows.

In this latest case, Kolomoiski is accused of laundering tens of millions of dollars. Yet that is only a fraction of the billions of dollars that government officials allege he and his partners embezzled from a private bank he co-owns.

Despite multiple investigations, Saturday’s notification was the first time Kolomoiski was officially notified as a suspect. It was unclear whether the notices received by the oligarchs were related to PrivatBank or other alleged wrongdoing.

PrivatBank was nationalized in 2016 after a $5.5 billion hole in its balance sheet was discovered. Since then, Kolomoisky and his partners have faced numerous legal proceedings in the PrivatBank case in various jurisdictions including Kiev, London, the United States, Cyprus and Israel. In 2021, the United States will impose sanctions on Kolomoisky for alleged corruption.

In February, Ukrainian investigators raided Kolomoisky’s Dnipro residence in an early morning raid, winning praise from European officials.

The SBU said the raids were linked to corruption allegations at the Ukrnafta state oil producer and Ukrtatnafta refinery controlled by Kolomoiski and his partners. Both companies are nationalized in 2022.

Ahead of the Russian invasion in February 2022, Zelensky stepped up his crackdown on vested interests. But some corruption allegations against officials and politicians in Zelensky’s government have raised doubts about the scope of the crackdown.