News/Commentary

Famous billionaire FACES ARREST – house of cards collapsing!

September 7, 2023 | | Print Article

The Ukrainian billionaire behind Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s rise to power in Ukraine has been arrested after being labeled a “big fish” by prosecutors combatting corruption in the war-torn country.

(Video Credit: CBC News)

Billionaire Ihor Kolomoisky was arrested over the weekend by Ukraine authorities on a whole host of fraud and money laundering charges according to The New York Times. The crackdown comes amid speculation that Ukraine is allowing rampant bribery and corruption at the highest levels of its government to continue.

The tycoon gave Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy his first big break in television and supported him for the presidency. Now, he is being taken down by the very same man he supported due to corruption. Kolomoisky is also believed to have funded extremist private militia armies.

Kolomoisky is worth nearly $1.7 billion and is among Ukraine’s top five richest individuals, according to Zero Hedge. He has his paws in a lot of pies including banking, oil, and media. But his wealth and influence evidently aren’t sufficient to protect him during the growing crackdown in Ukraine.

The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) issued a statement on Saturday asserting that Kolomoisky, who is referred to as the “de facto owner of a large financial and industrial group,” had attempted to launder over 500 million Ukrainian hryvnias ($13.5 million) by “transferring it abroad while using the infrastructure of banking institutions controlled by him.”

Kolomoisky has been ordered by a court to pretrial detention for two months while an investigation is conducted. His bail was set at a staggering $14 million and he has decided not to pay it and appeal instead.

“Suspicions of corruption and embezzlement have dogged Mr. Kolomoisky for years. In 2017, he left Ukraine for Switzerland and Israel after the government of then-President Petro O. Poroshenko seized a bank he co-owned and accused him of a large-scale fraud that threatened to destabilize Ukraine’s economy,” the New York Times reported.

“He returned in 2019 after Mr. Zelensky’s defeat of Mr. Poroshenko, raising fears that his ties to the new president would help him regain his economic and political clout,” the media outlet continued.

The media is now painting this as a high-profile prosecution that proves Zelenskyy is getting “tough” on corruption.

Zero Hedge reported, “And guess who was degrees of separation away from Hunter Biden, related to shady Bursima relationships? ‘Besides being connected through the Burisma energy giant, Hunter Biden did business with Igor Kolomoisky’s bank,’ one prior report reads.”

The Ukrainian president also just gave his own defense minister the boot as well.

“This week, parliament will be asked to make a personnel decision … I have decided to replace the minister of defense of Ukraine. Oleksii Reznikov has gone through more than 550 days of full-scale war,” Zelenskyy announced over the weekend.

“As for the dismissed defense minister, Reznikov was at the center of an anti-graft probe into the military’s paying inflated prices for imported items, sometimes at triple or more the cost, the profits of which are believed to have lined the pockets of top military officials. There’s also the recent recruiting scandal, where top military recruiters were given large bribes to allow individuals to avoid conscription,” Zero Hedge noted.

In order for Ukraine to be allowed to join the European Union, the country has to at least appear to be cleaning up corruption among the ranks of its leaders. Thus, Zelenskyy’s moves to do so. Despite his efforts, however, it is unlikely the nation will join the EU any time soon.

Russian media was quick to point out Kolomoisky’s political and financial ties in Ukraine.

“Kolomoysky burst on to the political scene in 2014, when he was appointed governor of the southeastern Dnepropetrovsk Region following a Western-backed coup in Kiev. A year later, however, he was dismissed from his post over a conflict with then-Ukrainian President Pyotr Poroshenko amid a struggle for control of Ukrnafta and state-owned oil pipeline operator Ukrtransnafta,” Russia Today reported.

“In 2016, Ukrainian authorities also nationalized Kolomoysky’s PrivatBank, after declaring it a major threat to the country’s financial system, following allegations of large-scale fraud,” the Russian media outlet continued.

In 2021, the State Dept. sanctioned Kolomoisky and his family members. A US statement at the time accused him of being engaged “in corrupt acts that undermined rule of law and the Ukrainian public’s faith in their government’s democratic institutions.”

The billionaire originally wanted Ukraine to be taken back into the Russian fold in 2019 but seems to have done an about-face by backing Zelenskyy, according to the Moscow Times.

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