02/09/2023 9:34 pm (current 02/09/2023 9:34 pm)
On Saturday, a Kyiv court ordered Ukrainian oligarch Ihor Kolomoiskyj to be detained in custody on suspicion of fraud, among other things. The judge initially placed the arrest warrant against the 60-year-old man in force until October 31, as the online newspaper “Ukrainskaya Pravda” reported in court.
At the same time, a bail amount of almost 510 million hryvnias (about 12.7 million euros) was set. If paid, the billionaire and former political sponsor of the Ukrainian President, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, would be released pending a court hearing.
The SBU secret service had already announced on Telegram that it had handed over the results of the investigation to Kolomoiskyj. Thus, the owner of a financial and industrial group is accused of criminal activities, including fraud and legalization of illegally acquired assets. The businessman allegedly sent more than half a billion hryvnias abroad between 2013 and 2020. The investigation under the supervision of the Prosecutor General’s Office continues, he said.
Kolomoiskyj has been under investigation since last year. During this, his house was also searched. In November, Kolomoisky’s holdings in parastatal oil and gas companies were confiscated due to the war with Russia.
Zelensky, who was elected president in 2019, has recently increasingly distanced himself from Kolomoisky and reportedly also revoked his Ukrainian citizenship. The head of state announced more decisive actions against powerful Ukrainian oligarchs. In February there was already talk of the Kolomoiskyj case of “diversion of petroleum products” worth the equivalent of 930 million euros. According to online newspaper Ukrayinska Pravda, neither Kolomoiskyj nor the Public Prosecutor’s Office commented on the accusations on Saturday. The oligarch was seen on video in the dock.