A Ukrainian court has ordered billionaire Ihor Kolomoisky to be detained for two months on charges of fraud and money laundering, a striking move against one of the country’s most powerful businessmen, reports RTE.
Mr Kolomoisky’s detention comes as Ukraine tries to signal progress in its fight against wartime corruption, under US sanctions and once supported by President Volodymyr Zelensky, whose election Mr Kolomoisky supported in 2019.
Defence lawyers said Mr Kolomoisky would appeal the verdict, questioning its legality, but would not post bail of around 12.9 million euros to secure his release, broadcaster Radio Liberty reported.
After yesterday’s hearing in a district court in Kyiv, TV footage showed one of Ukraine’s richest men, wearing a blue tracksuit jacket, being led away, reports RTE.
He could not reach this comment.
The Security Service of Ukraine announced the case against Mr Kolomoisky, publishing photos on the Telegram messenger showing security officers handing him documents and signing them.
“It was established that during 2013-2020, Ihor Kolomoisky legalised more than half a billion hryvnias (€12.5 million) by withdrawing them abroad and using the infrastructure of banks under (his) control,” the agency said in a statement, reports RTE.
After the verdict, Mr Zelensky appeared to vaguely mention the case in his evening speech, thanking law enforcement for their determination to bring long-running cases to justice.
“Without a doubt, there will be no more decades-long ‘business as usual’ for those who plundered Ukraine and put themselves above the law and any rules…The law must work,” he said, reports RTE.
Before Russia’s invasion in February 2022, Mr Zelensky and his party passed laws to register oligarchs and keep them out of politics.
The war weakened the power of the oligarchs as industrial wealth in the east and south was destroyed and their television channels broadcast on a centralized signal.
Before becoming president, Mr Zelensky gained fame as a comedian and played the role of the president in a program broadcast on Mr Kolomoisky’s television channel.
Detaining Mr Kolomoisky was not his first action during the war.
Mr Kolomoisky is the former owner of the leading Ukrainian bank, PrivatBank, which was nationalized at the end of 2016 as part of organizing the banking system.
Mr Kolomoisky denies any wrongdoing, reports RTE.
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