The US Department of Justice has accused Kolomoisky of laundering billions from Privatbank
According to Ukrainian Pravda, citing an original source in The Washigton Post, on Thursday, August 6, 2020, the US Department of Justice charged Ukrainian oligarch Igor Kolomoisky with embezzling funds withdrawn from PrivatBank in the amount of 5.5$ billion.
Subsequently, these funds were laundered through a huge number of front companies all around the world and in the United States in particular.
For more than a year, federal agents have been tracking funds sent to the United States from companies owned by Igor Kolomoisky and his partner Gennady Bogolyubov. The funds were used to buy real estate, including four skyscrapers in downtown of Cleveland, Ohio, in 2008-2013.
Federal agents have repeatedly visited Ukraine. In February 2019, they had meeting with NABU investigators and with Ruslan Ryaboshapka, who at the time headed the Prosecutor General's Office.
According to the investigation of the National Bank of Ukraine a deficit in the accounts of "PrivatBank" in the amount of $ 5.5 billion was found.
These scum operations were done by main shareholders of the bank Igor Kolomoisky and Gennady Bogolyubov.
The Washigton Post points out that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who was an actor before his presidentship and worked for Igor Kolomoisky on 1 + 1 TV channel. Zelensky appointed Andriy Bohdan to be the head the Office of the President. We remind you that Bohdan is a former lawyer of oligarch Ihor Kolomoisky. In his turn, the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky stressed that he has no agreements with the oligarch Igor Kolomoisky not depend from him.
On Tuesday August 4, 2020, Cleveland.com reported that the FBI had searched the offices of the company owned by Igor Kolomoisky in Cleveland.
As previously reported, FBI agent Vicky Anderson said that agents were searching the offices of Optima Management Group in one of the business centers in Cleveland (One Cleveland Center). Optima is a conglomerate of companies throughout the United States with real estate interests in Cleveland. Judging by the accusations, FBI agents found the necessary evidence to open the case and now Kolomoisky will face justice.
The United States Department of Justice has also filed a civil forfeiture complaint for the confiscation of two properties worth $ 70 million, which will be heard in the South Florida District Court. Kolomoisky's homes are located in Louisville, Kentucky (PNC Plaza) and Dallas, Texas (formerly CompuCom Headquarters).
The US Department of Justice was interested in how Kolomoisky's employees are creating a network of companies with variations in the name Optima to launder money stolen from Ukraine. Kolomoisky's case is being investigated by the FBI in conjunction with the Department of Criminal Investigations of the Internal Revenue Service and the Customs Border Service.
The confiscation of two office buildings is just the beginning. Together with partners, Kolomoisky bought 465,000 square meters of commercial real estate, and became the largest player in the market in Cleveland, Ohio, as well as acquired hotels, ferroalloy and metallurgical plants and even a factory for the production of mobile phones. The full list can be seen here.
As we reported earlier, a civil lawsuit by PrivatBank in Delaware worth nearly $ 800 million is also being considered.
