‘Bond villain’ oligarch who ‘kept SHARKS in his office’ with ties to Zelensky has his home raided
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A ‘James Bond villain’ oligarch who is said to keep sharks in his office to intimidate his enemies has had his mansion in Ukraine broken into as part of a sweeping anti-corruption campaign.
Ihor Kolomoisky, a warlord who helped Volodymyr Zelensky’s rise to power, was attacked yesterday by the SBU, Ukraine’s security service.
The 59-year-old tycoon was photographed standing at his hunting residence near Dnipro wearing tracksuits and slippers as officers confronted him.
Investigators are looking into claims that Kolomoisky embezzled around £1bn from two oil companies where he was previously the majority shareholder, Ukrainian media say.
The Ukrainian government seized stakes in energy companies, oil producer Ukrnafta and refiner Ukrtatnafta, as part of moves to consolidate the war effort.
Ihor Kolomoisky is pictured during the raid by Ukrainian security services on his Dnipro hostel yesterday.
The oil baron, who was mentioned in the Panama Papers, is accused of dodging customs duties to amass his enormous fortune, which included owning the television station that launched Zelensky’s comedy career.
He backed the then-actor during his 2019 presidential bid with his media empire, though Zelensky has distanced himself from the billionaire businessman.
The tycoon, who has been sanctioned by the US, also “laundered $5.5 billion through a tangle of shell companies, buying up factories and commercial properties across the heart of the US,” says the International Consortium of Investigative journalists.
He is accused of heading one of the largest Ponzi schemes in US history and is one of the largest real estate owners in the US Midwest.
Kolomoisky was born to a Jewish family in Dnipropetrovsk, Ukraine, when it was part of the Soviet Union.
After the collapse of the USSR, he began to make a fortune importing foreign products and trading local metals on the international market.
Investigators are looking into claims that Kolomoisky embezzled around £1bn from two oil companies where he was previously the majority shareholder, Ukrainian media say.
Kolomoisky, a warlord who helped Volodymyr Zelensky’s rise to power, was attacked yesterday by the SBU, Ukraine’s security service.
He allegedly seized old state assets and bribed judges and magistrates as Russia struggled to control its burgeoning kleptocracy.
The ruthless leader soon began to cultivate a fearsome personality.
According to Forbes, he once deployed “hundreds of hired rioters armed with baseball bats, iron bars, gas guns and rubber bullets, and chainsaws” to take over a steel plant by force.
He once lined up in the lobby of an oil company he wanted to drive out with a row of coffins, and filled his shark tank with bloody bait when he wanted to intimidate opponents.
He was one of the most powerful figures in Ukraine in the 2010s, overseeing one of the country’s largest banks, PrivatBank.
After the 2014 EuroMaidan Revolution, when Russia began trying to take over Ukraine, Kolomoisky began funding the neo-Nazi Azov regiment and became a fierce defender of the homeland.
Investigators are looking into claims that Kolomoisky embezzled around £1bn from two oil companies where he was previously the majority shareholder.
A US diplomat said, according to the Viewer: ‘I think Kolomoisky is super dangerous. He was one of the first oligarchs to start acting like a warlord.
But doubts were raised about the reality of his finances and government officials discovered billions were missing from his empire.
The government was forced to give a mammoth £4.5bn bailout to PrivatBank to prevent its collapse, soon finding money hidden in faraway places like Cleveland, Ohio.
Investigators say he oversaw a laundering scheme that stole billions from unaware Ukrainian depositors.
The loans that were publicly declared by PrivatBank were actually being redirected to offshore entities using shell companies and offshore accounts.
Kolomoisky swore he would turn the fortunes of the US Midwestern steellands around, but unsurprisingly it never happened, instead using the unsuspecting regions as the ideal place to hide his fortune.
Despite his history of corruption, he was largely untouched by the government until recently, due to his power and influence over the military.
The 59-year-old tycoon was photographed standing at his hunting camp residence near Dnipro wearing tracksuits and slippers as officers confronted him.
Despite its history of corruption, it was largely left untouched by the government until recently.
But now, authorities have clamped down on him as part of Zelensky’s escalating corruption investigation.
The search came ahead of a key EU summit and appeared to be part of a push by Kyiv to reassure major military and financial donors in European capitals and Washington that Ukraine is tackling systemic corruption.
“We are carrying out the task set by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and at the same time dealing a global blow to the internal enemy,” Vasyl Maliuk, head of Ukraine’s security service, SBU, announced.
“Any criminal who has the audacity to harm Ukraine, especially in war conditions, must clearly understand that we will handcuff him.”
The raids also targeted former Interior Minister Arsen Avakov, Zelensky’s party leader David Arakhamia said.
Law enforcement also raided tax offices in the capital and fired senior customs officials, Arakhamia said.
Authorities have clamped down on him as part of Zelensky’s escalating investigation into corruption (pictured in 2019)
In the biggest political shakeup since the launch of Moscow’s assault on Ukraine, authorities last week sacked a dozen top officials, including defense officials and a top aide in the president’s office.
Wednesday’s raids came two days before Zelensky was scheduled to host a summit with the European Union, which has called for reforms to facilitate deeper integration.
The SBU also said it had uncovered a scheme by the head of Kyiv’s tax office into ‘multi-million dollar’ fraud schemes, accusing the official of abusing a position of authority.
In a speech to the nation on Tuesday, Zelensky vowed that officials would take more steps to crack down on corruption, saying “all necessary steps have already been taken.”
“People in government who do not meet the basic requirements of the state and society should not take their seats,” he said.
Zelensky vowed that officials would take more steps to crack down on corruption, saying “all necessary steps have already been taken.”
The State Bureau of Investigation and the Attorney General’s Office said on Wednesday that they had informed several senior officials that they were under investigation for crimes including embezzlement of state funds and misuse of state property.
Last week, the Defense Ministry announced the resignation of Deputy Minister Vyacheslav Shapovalov, who was involved in logistical support for the army.
That resignation came after the ministry was accused of signing food contracts at prices two to three times higher than market rates for basic products.
Despite being outspoken about fighting corruption, Zelensky himself has been embroiled in corruption scandals in the past.
Now he is working to win political support for Ukraine at a critical moment in the conflict, when Russian forces claim they have conquered new land in the eastern Donetsk region.