Konstatin Zhevago, billionaire and former deputy of the Verkhovna Rada, who has been on the wanted list since 2019, was detained in Courchevel, France. He is accused of embezzlement of Finance and Credit Bank in Ukraine, of which he is a shareholder.
“For several months, close cooperation with law enforcement agencies from different countries continued, including the justice authorities, the gendarmerie and the police of the French Republic,” the Ukrainian State Investigation Bureau wrote in Telegram.
Petitions were sent to the authorities of 38 countries for the arrest of Zhevago.
The investigating authorities are currently preparing a package of documents for the extradition of a businessman to Ukraine. At the time of his arrest, he himself tried to challenge the legality of the actions of the French authorities, but without success.
The State Bureau of Investigation states, “Today, it is scheduled for the extradition detention of Zhevago to be decided in the court of the city of Chambéry.”
What is Zhevago accused of?
In Ukraine, Zhevago became a defendant in criminal cases under Part 3 of Art. 27, Part 5 of Art. 191, Part 3 of Art. 209 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (including embezzlement, abuse of property, money laundering). A criminal case was brought against him when he left the country in 2019.
A significant part of the property of the oligarch and legal entities connected with him, including 26 real estate objects and company shares, was arrested. In addition, the property of “other legal entities connected with Jevago” – 14 property complexes, 10 apartments, 30 non-residential buildings – was arrested.
According to Ukrainian Forbes, Zhevago takes fifth place in the ranking of the richest people in the country. His fortune reached $1.4 billion. A year ago he was in third place.
Zhevago has a stake in Ferrexpo, an iron ore producer (its main asset is the Poltava Mining and Processing Plant). It also controls Ukraine’s largest financial and industrial group, Finance and Credit.
In November, by decree of President Volodymyr Zelensky, part of the assets belonging to the businessman was transferred to the control of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine to fulfill the state defense order. We are talking specifically about AvtoKrAZ, which is part of the Finance and Credit group. At the same time, enterprises of Motor Sich, Zaporizhtransformator, Ukrnafta and Ukrtatnafta were nationalized in Ukraine.
Searches made in November
Employees of the Ukrainian Bureau of Economic Security on November 18 grasped Searches in the administrative buildings of two mining and processing plants owned by Zhevago. The investigative actions were carried out as part of a case of tax evasion worth more than 10 billion hryvnia (over $270 million).
BEB claimed that the authorities of these enterprises had previously underestimated their rent tax liability for underground use – about UAH 7.6 billion and more than UAH 2.7 billion, respectively.