Billion-dollar schemes of "Ukrnafta": Kolomoiskyi and accomplice accused of embezzling 5.3 billion hryvnias

Billion-dollar schemes of "Ukrnafta": Kolomoiskyi and accomplice accused of embezzling 5.3 billion hryvnias

The former shareholder of Ukraine’s largest bank and his accomplice will be tried for misappropriating over 5.3 billion UAH from the bank, "Ukrnafta," and other companies through document forgery and money laundering. The name of the figure is not officially disclosed, but the facts mentioned in the releases point to Ihor Kolomoiskyi.

This was reported by the Office of the Prosecutor General of Ukraine and the Bureau of Economic Security.

According to the investigation, from March 2013 to February 2014, an organized group, created and led by the businessman, operated as a stable association with a clear distribution of roles among its members.

Their plan was aimed at seizing funds from several large enterprises and banking institutions. Specifically, under the guise of legitimate financial and economic operations and using forged documents, funds were withdrawn from the accounts of the bank, the joint-stock company "Ukrnafta," and participants in a joint investment activity agreement.

To conceal the illegal origin of the funds, the scheme’s participants created the appearance of cash deposits into the bank’s cash desk on behalf of the organizer, and later simulated the transfer of these funds to the Kyiv branch of the institution’s head office. This allowed over 5.3 billion UAH to be credited to the former shareholder’s personal account under the guise of converted cash. A portion of the received funds, approximately 4.1 billion UAH, was laundered by the businessman.

The investigation confirmed that the losses to "Ukrnafta" alone amounted to about 3 billion UAH. The total amount of illegally appropriated and laundered funds exceeded 5.3 billion UAH. To implement the scheme, fictitious contracts were used, and artificial documents were created regarding allegedly performed geological exploration work and other operations, which helped disguise the origin of the funds.

The oligarch’s accomplice, a former head of the Kyiv branch of the bank, facilitated the preparation of documents that enabled illegal transfers and other operations. Witnesses confirmed the fictitious nature of the cash flow: the funds were supposedly received by the bank but were not actually used for deposits.

The actions of the accused are classified as misappropriation of property on an especially large scale, illegal actions with documents, official forgery, and laundering of property obtained through criminal means (Part 5 of Article 191, Part 3 of Article 209, Article 200, Article 366 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine). Materials concerning five other members of the group have been separated into individual criminal proceedings.

The pre-trial investigation was conducted by detectives of the Bureau of Economic Security of Ukraine with operational support from the Security Service of Ukraine (SSU). The oligarch’s property and bank accounts have been seized, and the case has been transferred to court for consideration on its merits.