Ukrainian Oligarch Linked To Rudy Giuliani Accused Of Stealing Billions In Money Laundering Scheme

The Department of Justice on Thursday accused Ukrainian oligarch Igor Kolomoisky of stealing billions in a money-laundering scheme. The DOJ has moved to seize properties owned by Kolomoisky in Texas and Kentucky in a civil forfeiture complaint.

Kolomoisky is accused of defrauding Ukraine’s largest bank, Privatbank, of billions of dollars. Kolomoisky, along with his business partner Gennadiy Boholiubov, then laundered that money through various companies around the world, including in the United States.

“Mr. Kolomoisky emphatically denies the allegations in the complaints filed by the Department of Justice,” an attorney for Kolomoisky told the Washington Post in an email.

Kolomoisky and Boholiubov were previously two major owners of Privatbank, until it was completely nationalized in 2016 by the Ukrainian government. They allegedly used funds from the financial institution to build their business empire and buy real estate in the U.S. and other countries, with the Ukrainian parliament in April approving legislation that would prevent the two men from regaining control of the bank.

Kolomoisky, an ally of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, is one of Ukraine’s richest men. Kolomoisky played a role in the impeachment saga of President Donald Trump and Rudy Giuliani’s scheme to find dirt on former Vice President Joe Biden.

Two Giuliani associates, Lev Parnas and Igor Fruman, met with Kolomoisky in Tel Aviv in April 2019. They had wanted Kolomoisky to help connect Giuliani to Zelensky, but were not successful, with Kolomoisky later referring to Parnas and Fruman as “two clowns” in an interview with Ukrainian media.

During a Senate trial earlier this year, Trump was acquitted of the major impeachment charges against him. Parnas and Fruman, on the other hand, were both arrested with campaign finance violations while trying to leave the U.S. in October.