US companies owned by Kolomoisky have been granted federal loans to alleviate the effects of the coronavirus
According to Radio Svoboda: Five US companies owned by Ukrainian oligarchs Igor Kolomoisky and Gennady Bogolyubov have been granted $ 13.3 million in loans through a federal program aimed at preserving jobs during a coronavirus pandemic. This is evidenced by US government data.
We remind that oligarchs are accused of money laundering to buy American assets.
US companies CC Metals & Alloys, Felman Production, Felman Trading Americas, Optima Management Group and Optima 777 became one of more than 600,000 US companies that approved credit financing of at least $ 150,000 under Paycheck Protection Program. This is evidenced by data from the US Treasury Department.
According to this information, on April 14, CC Metals & Alloys approved a loan of 2 to 5 million dollars to support 145 job positions. According to a company press release, on July 1, CC Metals & Alloys temporarily closed due to a coronavirus pandemic.
Felman Production, an alloy manufacturer in Virginia, has borrowed $ 1 million to $ 2 million to support nearly 100 job positions. Ukrainian oligarchs and their American partners have invested tens of millions of dollars in Felman Production since acquiring the company after its bankruptcy in 2006. Through their lawyers, Korf and Laber say their investments have helped revive "declining" US industrial assets.
Felman Trading Americas, which, according to the US Department of Justice, was founded by Korf and Laber to conceal the ownership of the oligarchs, approved a loan ranging from 350 thousand to 1 million US dollars.
Optima Management Group, which managed the commercial real estate of Kolomoisky and Bogolyubov in the United States, approved a loan of 150 to 300 thousand US dollars. Finally, Optima 777, which owns the Westin Hotel in Cleveland, approved a loan of between 2 and 5 millions of dollars to support 240 job positions.
Sage Hospitality Group, a hotel manager in Denver, Colorado, owns a minority stake in Westin, said spokeswoman Kelly Bayorek. Bloomberg News reported in July that Optima 777 had approved the loan.
The press service of Korf and Laber declined to say how many of the approved loans ($ 13.3 million) their companies received.
Low-interest loans under a special program, known in the United States by the acronym PPP, are designed to help employees of various enterprises during a pandemic.
This program failed to avoid criticism. To obtain loans, they say, approved some companies with good connections or those that are well financed.
Korf hired some of his relatives to work for the firms he ran for the magnates, including his nephew Menachem Sosson, hired by Felman Trading. Korfu's press service declined to say whether Sossonko is still employed there.
Korf and Laber are also senior members of Transenergy USA, a Texas-based trucking company for the energy industry.
Transenergy approves $ 350 million to $ 1 million PPP loan in May to support 200 job positions.
It will be recalled that on August 6, the US Department of Justice filed a civil complaint accusing Ukrainian billionaires Igor Kolomoisky and Gennady Bogolyubov of laundering hundreds of millions of dollars from PrivatBank and using illegal funds to acquire assets in the United States, including steel plants and alloys. also real estate.
