The Prosecutor General`s Office (PGO) has exposed an illegal financial transaction by employees of insolvent Finance and Credit Bank, a spokeswoman for Ukrainian Prosecutor General Yuriy Lutsenko Larysa Sargan wrote on Facebook.
”The department for investigation of particularly important cases in the field of economy with the operational support of the Department of counteracting economic crimes of the National Police and the SBU Security Service of Ukraine, in the framework of criminal proceedings under Part 5, Article 191 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (abuse of power resulting in grave consequences, and the acquisition of property in a large scale in conspiracy by a group of persons) has exposed the illegal financial transaction by officials of JSC Finance and Credit Bank, who with the help of non-residents, including a company in an offshore jurisdiction, the ultimate beneficial owner of which is a citizen of Ukraine – a former assistant of MP Kostyantyn Zhevago, illegally withdrew the bank`s assets in the amount of more than UAH 1 billion,” Sargan wrote.
According to Prosecutor General Yuriy Lutsenko, today, one of the members of the criminal group, former assistant of MP Kostyantyn Zhevago Oleksandr Demchenko is suspected of committing a crime under Part 5, Article 191 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine. He faces up to 12 years in jail with confiscation of property.
So far, the court has chosen a measure of restraint against the suspect in the form of detention and ordered bail in the amount of UAH 41.340 million.
The investigation revealed that officials of JSC Finance and Credit Bank in collusion with other persons had entered into a guarantee agreement with a non-resident of Ukraine (one of the banks, which is located in Austria) and had listed $53.763 million on correspondent accounts of this institution, which were intended as a guarantee on the part of Ukrainian bank-guarantor of the risk activities of an offshore company registered in Cyprus.
The PGO told that through sham transactions and non-reflection if the financial statements of JSC Finance and Credit Bank, the funds were lost, the bank and its depositors suffered losses on a large scale.
