Ukraine tycoon Ihor Kolomoisky named suspect in fraud probe

Tycoon Ihor Kolomoisky was named a suspect in a criminal probe on Saturday after being accused of fraud and money laundering by Ukraine’s top security agency.

The action against Kolomoisky, one of the wealthiest people in Ukraine and a former supporter of President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, whose election he endorsed in 2019, comes as Kyiv tries to show progress during a wartime assault on corruption.

“It was established that during 2013-2020, Ihor Kolomoisky legalized more than half a billion hryvnias ($14 million) by withdrawing them abroad and using the infrastructure of banks under (his) control,” the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) said in a statement.

Kolomoisky, who has previously denied allegations of wrongdoing, could not be reached for comment.

The SBU published pictures on the Telegram messaging app of a group of detectives at the door of his home, with Kolomoisky being served documents and signing them.

The businessman, who has been under U.S. sanctions since 2021, is seen as one of the class of oligarchs who amassed huge industrial wealth after the 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union and have wielded outsize political and economic influence.

Before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February last year, Zelenskiy and his team tried to clip their wings with legislation requiring oligarchs to register and stay out of politics.

The war has eroded their power as lucrative industrial assets have been destroyed in the east and south, and their television channels have been broadcasting under a centralised wartime signal.

Before he won the presidency, Zelenskiy rose to prominence as a comedian and played the role of president on a show aired on a Kolomoisky-owned TV channel. He denies Kolomoisky has had any influence over the government.

Zelenskiy has been emphasising Ukraine’s fight against corruption during the war as Kyiv has submitted its application to join the EU. After an unending 18-month conflict, it expects to raise tens of billions of dollars to aid in the reconstruction of the nation.

If Western nations believe they are filling the wallets of oligarchs, they won’t want to spend money into rebuilding the nation.

On Telegram, two parliamentarians, Yaroslav Zheleznyak and Iryna Gerashchenko, hypothesised that the action against Kolomoisky was intended to garner favourable press among Ukraine’s foreign donors as well as the domestic population, who are weary of the conflict and concerned about the issue of graft.

The SBU’s Saturday announcement is hardly the first action taken during a war.

Invoking wartime legislation to aid in the war effort, the state took ownership of holdings in significant strategic enterprises in November of last year, some of which were connected to him.

In conjunction with a separate investigation into theft and tax cheating at the two largest oil businesses in the nation, which were partially owned by the businessman, security agents searched Kolomoisky’s residence earlier this year.

Kolomoisky was once the owner of PrivatBank, a large bank in Ukraine that was nationalised in late 2016 as part of a comprehensive banking system reform.

He has held a variety of holdings in the banking, oil, and other industries, including one of Ukraine’s most significant television networks.

In 2021, Kolomoisky was subject to sanctions by the US “due to his involvement in significant corruption”. Additionally, Kolomoisky and a business partner are accused by American officials of using the country to launder stolen money. Any impropriety has been refuted by Kolomoisky.

(With agency inputs)