Former president Viktor Yanukovych and his entourage “legalized” UAH 77.2bn revenues obtained by criminal methods, reports the press service of the State Financial Monitoring Service of Ukraine on its website on April 9.
The service has been conducting an investigation into the financial dealings of Yanukovych and his circle since March 1, paying special attention to money laundering of funds obtained through corruption, the embezzlement of public funds, and the appropriation of public property by the former president of Ukraine, his family, and former government officials and related parties.
Financial investigations are also being conducted on individuals involved in the organization of deliberate mass murder and the separatist activity taking place in Ukraine, the service reports.
These investigations are being coordinated with the Prosecutor General of Ukraine, the Security Service, the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the Ministry of Revenues, and the National Bank of Ukraine.
Results of the financial investigations completed in March have been sent to law enforcement and include 126 primary and secondary materials. According to the evidence, the total sum of funds obtained through criminal activity and subsequently laundered is thought to reach UAH 77.2bn., the press statement says.
The Financial Monitoring Service reports that particular attention has been focused on finding and blocking the financial funds and total assets of the named individuals in banks and other financial institutions of Ukraine. Thus, as a result of measures taken by the Service, the accounts of 67 individuals have been identified and blocked (as of April 1, 2014). They include:
– Banks accounts totaling UAH 261.1mn, US $15mn, EUR 2.6mn, RUB 0.4mn, precious metals (gold and silver) with total value of UAH 3mn and also shares with total value of UAH 1.1bn.
– Seven bank accounts of legal entities connected to the named individuals containing funds totaling UAH 630.9mn .The total amount of blocked funds by SCFM in March this year is the equivalent of UAH 2.2bn.
Additionally, the location and identification of the aforementioned assets abroad was given special attention. The Financial Monitoring Service sent requests to financial investigative units of 136 countries with the goal of establishing and further blocking bank accounts, corporate rights, securities and other legal claims to real estate and other assets.
“These financial investigations are being conducted with unprecedented support of our international partners,” the Financial Monitoring Service reports.
Cooperation has been particularly active with representatives of the financial investigative departments and law enforcement agencies of the United States and the United Kingdom. A series of working meetings have taken place to determine further joint measures for identifying and freezing the assets of former officials and related parties.
At the same time, the Financial Monitoring Service of Ukraine and the National Bank of Ukraine are taking measures to curb the activities of the so-called conversion centers and the illegal withdrawal of foreign currency funds from Ukraine, the press statement concludes.
Source: http://www.sdfm.gov.ua/news.php?news_id=2546&lang=uk
Translated by Anna Mostovych
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