KYIV, Apr. 10 – According to a recent Der Spiegel report, German prosecutors fear that in the event they extradite former Ukrainian lawmaker Viktor Zherdytsky to Ukraine to be prosecuted on money-laundering charges, Ukrainian authorities could release him.
Citing an Interfax news agency report, Der Spiegel said that Ukraine’s current political instability could mean that justice will not be served in the case of Zherdytsky, who has been accused by German authorities of laundering millions of deutsche marks meant for Nazi war victims.
Zherdytsky, the former president of Ukraine’s Gradobank, was arrested by German police last October on charges of embezzling DM 86 million intended for Ukrainian ostarbeiters.
In 1996, Gradobank received DM 100 million under a trust agreement with the Mutual Understanding and Reconciliation Fund, which made payments to the war victim from German government funds.
Shortly afterwards, the fund announced that it lost the money after Gradobank went bankrupt.
In addition to Zherdytsky, German authorities have made another four individuals from both Russia and German subjects of the investigation.
During the course of the investigation, German prosecutor plan to place another DM 12 million under arrest.
Zherdytsky began his business operations in Germany as early as 1993 when he registered the Zel GmbH company in the city of Wedemark, the report said.
