13:33 31.12.2020

U.S. Justice Dept seeks forfeiture of third commercial property purchased with funds misappropriated from PrivatBank in Ukraine

2 min read
U.S. Justice Dept seeks forfeiture of third commercial property purchased with funds misappropriated from PrivatBank in Ukraine

On December 30, the U.S. Department of Justice a civil forfeiture complaint in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida alleging that commercial real estate in Cleveland, Ohio, was acquired using funds misappropriated from PrivatBank in Ukraine by Ukrainian businessmen Ihr Kolomoisky and Henadiy Bohlibov before its nationalization.

The U.S. Department of Justice filed a civil forfeiture complaint in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida alleging that commercial real estate in Cleveland, Ohio, was acquired using funds misappropriated from PrivatBank in Ukraine as part of a multi-billion-dollar loan scheme, the U.S. Department of Justice said.

In August 2020, two other civil forfeiture complaints were filed in the Southern District of Florida involving properties in Louisville, Kentucky and Dallas, Texas, in which it was alleged that those properties were also acquired using funds misappropriated from PrivatBank in Ukraine, the U.S. Department of Justice said on its website.

All three properties are alleged to be subject to forfeiture based on violations of federal money laundering statutes, it says.

Deputy Assistant Attorney General Kevin Driscoll of the Justice Department's Criminal Division, U.S. Attorney Ariana Fajardo Orshan for the Southern District of Florida, U.S. Attorney Justin E. Herdman for the Northern District of Ohio and Special Agent in Charge Eric B. Smith of the FBI's Cleveland Field Office made the announcement.

On December 18, 2016, the government of Ukraine, referring to the proposal of the NBU and former shareholders of PrivatBank, the largest of which at that time were Kolomoisky and Boholiubov, decided to nationalize this largest financial institution on the Ukrainian market.

The ex-owners of the bank consider the nationalization carried out, as a result of which they completely lost their shares, illegal, while PrivatBank and the state demand additional compensation from them.

The parties are currently in litigation both in Ukraine and in foreign courts.

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