Law enforcers have notified the former ultimate beneficiary of PJSC CB PrivatBank (Kyiv) and five of his former top managers of misappropriation of the bank's funds for more than UAH 9.2 billion, according to the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU).

"On September 7, 2023, NABU detectives, with the consent of the head of the SAPO, informed the former ultimate beneficial owner of PrivatBank and five members of the group organized by him about suspicion of embezzlement of the bank's funds in the amount of more than UAH 9.2 billion," NABU reported on the official website on Thursday.

It was reportedly established that in January-March 2015, the ultimate beneficiary of the bank, at that time the head of Dnipropetrovsk Regional State Administration, developed a plan to seize the funds of PrivatBank in order to further finance the controlled offshore company and increase his own share in the charter capital of the bank. To do this, the bank was artificially ordered to pay the specified controlled company more than UAH 9.2 billion under the pretext of allegedly repurchasing its own bonds at an inflated cost.

In the future, the report notes, part of the amount of more than UAH 446 million was transferred for the purpose of legalization to the accounts of three related legal entities under the guise of operations for the purchase and sale of securities, and then to the accounts of two more. In the end, the funds were transferred to the personal account of the ultimate beneficiary of PrivatBank. He disposed of them at his own discretion - contributed to the charter capital of PrivatBank in compliance with the requirements of the National Bank of Ukraine.

According to NABU, now among the suspects are the former ultimate beneficial owner of PrivatBank, the organizer of the group; former chairman of the board of PrivatBank; deputy head of the direction - director of the department of interbank dealing of the bank, who at the same time was a trusted representative of a non-resident company associated with the bank; deputy chairman of the board of PrivatBank - director of the treasury; head of the department for support of interbank operations of the bank's treasury; deputy head of the department for servicing LORO accounts of correspondent banks, non-residents of the main office of the bank.

The actions of the persons are qualified under Articles 191, 209, 366 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine. The deputy head of the direction - the director of the department of interbank dealing of the bank, who at the same time was a trusted representative of a non-resident company associated with PrivatBank, was detained in accordance with Article 208 of the Criminal Procedure Code. The pre-trial investigation continues.