Firtash was arrested in 2014 on suspicion of money laundering - Austrian media

11:42, 24.03.2015 1 min read

Ukrainian businessman Dmytro Firtash was arrested in Austria in April 2014 as he was suspected of money laundering via the purchase of Louis Vuitton goods, Austria's Format.at web portal has reported.

"It happened with Dmytro Firtash, when he intended to pay for purchases in a luxury Louis Vuitton store in the "Golden Quarter" of Vienna. The cost of bags, skirts and jewelry was EUR75,510 – a moderate amount for Firtash. However, a check in Louis Vuitton caused a number of events. Why? Because Firtash made a cashless payment and BAWAG-PSK (the Austrian bank serving Louis Vuitton) reported him to the police on suspicion of money laundering," reads the report.

According to Format.at, Firtash tried to pay for the purchase using a card registered to his company Scythian Consulting, which was considered by BAWAG-PSK to be money laundering.

The authors of the article said that Firtash was accused by the United States of bribing Indian officials and that the accusations were not grounded. According to Format.at, the accusations made by BAWAG-PSK also lacked compelling evidence.