Ukrainian oligarch was charged with suspicion of embezzlement of $113 million
Today, the SBI handed suspicion in absentia to the Ukrainian oligarch and billionaire, former people's deputy Konstantin Zhevago, who was previously checked for involvement in a criminal scheme to embezzle and launder 2,5 billion hryvnia from the Finance and Credit Bank.
First Deputy Director of the SBI Olga Varchenko reported this on Facebook.
“Today we handed suspicion in absentia to former MP Konstantin Zhevago, who was previously checked for involvement in a criminal scheme to embezzle and launder 2,5 billion hryvnia from the Finance and Credit Bank,” Varchenko wrote.
She recalled: during the pre-trial investigation, it was established that the offshore company opened credit lines with foreign banks in the period 2007-2014. Subsequently, collateral agreements in the amount of more than 113 million US dollars were concluded between financial institutions - the Finance and Credit Bank and foreign banks - in which the Ukrainian bank guaranteed the offshore company with its own funds, which were placed on correspondent accounts with foreign creditor banks.
“In 2015, for failure to fulfill obligations by an offshore company under loan agreements, foreign banks recovered exactly those 113 million dollars from the accounts of the Finance and Credit Bank. Foreign banks wrote off the collateral immediately after the Finance and Credit Bank was declared insolvent,” Varchenko noted.
Before reporting the suspicion, SBI investigators, GPU prosecutors and operational officers of the Economic Protection Department of the National Police of Ukraine, according to her, carried out extensive work.
“As part of two criminal proceedings, documents on economic activities and financial transactions between banking institutions were analyzed. As a result, investigators collected materials that gave reason to believe that the people’s deputy of the Verkhovna Rada of the III-VIII convocations, who is the beneficial owner of the bank, was involved in organizing a criminal scheme to embezzle money from a financial institution,” wrote Varchenko.
She also noted that during the pre-trial investigation, new details of the case emerged, namely, it turned out that those obtained with the guarantee of the bank were used in favor of foreign companies that belong to the ex-people's deputy himself.
“He was informed of suspicion under Part 3 of Art. 27, part 5 art. 191 (organization of embezzlement of someone else’s property under the jurisdiction of an official, committed by prior conspiracy by a group of persons on an especially large scale) and Part 3 of Art. 209 (legalization (laundering) of proceeds from crime on an especially large scale) of the Criminal Code of Ukraine,” Varchenko added.
She also recalled that in two criminal proceedings, suspicion has already been reported to 7 former officials of the financial institution, four of whom are now on the international and state wanted list.
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