Ukrainian tycoon and politician’s glamorous wife ‘smuggled £22m cash through EU refugee border crossing’
- Hungarian customs found money in Anastasia Kotvitskaya’s luggage
- A criminal case has been launched on the fact of refusal to declare the export of the amount from Ukraine
- Scandalous ex-people’s deputy Igor Kotvitsky claims that she left the country to give birth to a child
- A statement from his daughter Violetta, 24, said the story was “fake and hearsay”.
The glamorous wife of a well-known Ukrainian tycoon and politician is said to have “transported £22 million in cash across the border crossing into the EU”.
The money – in US dollars and euros – was found by the Hungarian customs in the luggage of the 52-year-old wife of the scandalous ex-People’s Deputy Igor Kotvitsky, the report said.
The picture shows the alleged cash thefts.
Upon the refusal of Anastasia Kotvitskaya to declare the export of a large amount of money from the country devastated by the war, a criminal case has been opened, according to Kyiv.
Kotvitsky – once Ukraine’s richest MP – said his wife was leaving the country to have a baby, but denied reports that she had $28 million and 1.3 million euros.
“All my money is in Ukrainian banks, I didn’t take anything,” he said before closing his social media account.
A statement from him, posted on social media by his 24-year-old Swiss-educated daughter Violetta, said the story was “fake and hearsay”.
Kotvitskaya, who was reportedly traveling with two Hungarian men and her mother, did not comment on the incident at the border.
It is alleged that she did not declare a large amount of cash being taken out of Ukraine at the Vilok checkpoint, and the money was found by Hungarian customs officers, the Obozrevatel newspaper writes.
She then stated that she brought this amount to Hungary, an EU country.
Anastasia Kotvitskaya (pictured), wife of Ukrainian uranium tycoon Igor Kotvitsky, allegedly smuggled £22m in cash from Ukraine into the EU, where it was found by Hungarian customs.
A huge amount of money (pictured) was discovered by the Hungarian customs. Currently, a criminal case has been initiated.
Ms Kotvitskaya, who was reportedly traveling with two Hungarian men and her mother, did not comment on the incident at the border.
Ukraine is very sensitive to the fact that the wealthy elite, eager to move their wealth abroad, is evading restrictions on capital flight at a time when the fate of the country hangs in the balance.
Kovitsky, through his associates, is reported to have control over Ukraine’s nuclear power systems and uranium deposits in a country partly taken over by Russia.
He is also believed to have close business and political ties to former Interior Minister Arsen Avakov.
The names of customs officers and border guards who deal with this are well known in narrow circles.
Now there are calls to initiate a criminal case against border guards at the crossing in the Transcarpathian region of the country, where they allegedly turned a blind eye to the outflow of cash from the country.
Kyiv businessman Seyar Khushutov, who cracked the Kotvitskaya case, said there was a tariff on bribes collected by customs officials to allow cash to be taken out of the country.
These illegal payments are “between 3 and 7.5%”, depending on the amount and level of the applicant.
“In other western regions, the situation is no better.
“The names of customs officers and border guards who are involved in this are well known in narrow circles.”