Firtash was put on the wanted list in Spain - suspected of money laundering
The Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office of Spain has put Ukrainian businessman Dmitry Firtash on the international wanted list on suspicion of laundering large sums of money.
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About it DW reports, citing a representative of the prosecutor's office.
According to the publication, Firtash is wanted along with two accomplices - citizens of Ukraine.
The representative of the prosecutor's office refused to name the names of these people, explaining this “in the interests of the investigation.”
The interlocutor also noted that simultaneously with the issuance of a search warrant in Barcelona and in the resort city of Marbella on November 24, 5 other accomplices of Firtash were detained. They were directly involved in laundering the capital of the Ukrainian oligarch. Among those detained is the famous Spanish lawyer Antonio de Fortuna.
According to the prosecutor's office, these people created a number of offshore companies for Firtash in Panama, although part of the capital ended up in Spain - invested in real estate. We are talking about “tens of millions of euros of illegal origin.” The representative of the prosecutor's office refused to name the exact amounts.
The interlocutor noted that the prosecutor’s office is considering Firtash’s case as part of Operation Variola, which started in July 2016 with the arrest in Barcelona of the son of ex-mayor of Kiev Leonid Chernovetsky, Stepan Chernovetsky, and 11 other people also suspected of money laundering.
Stepan Chernovetsky was released from arrest in the summer, but remains under investigation.
Documents found during searches in the Chernovetsky case helped the investigation identify Firtash, a representative of the prosecutor’s office noted.
At the same time, he doubted that the Ukrainian oligarch would ever fall into the hands of Spanish justice. After all, Firtash has been unsuccessfully wanted for several years by the US Federal Bureau of Investigation in connection with serious charges, including a bribe in exchange for a license to develop titanium deposits in India.
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