Interpol put Kostyantin Zhevago, a Ukrainian mogul and former lawmaker, on the international wanted list for alleged embezzlement, Ukraine’s State Bureau of Investigation (SBI) reported on July 15.
According to the SBI, Zhevago is suspected of embezzling $113 million from his defunct Finance & Credit Bank. He was served with criminal charges by Ukrainian officials on Sept. 27, 2019.
Official say that an offshore company controlled by Zhevago opened credit lines in foreign banks, with Finance & Credit Bank as guarantor. When the offshore company failed to fulfill its contractual obligations, foreign banks seized the collateral, including $113 million from the bank’s accounts. After that, the bank was declared insolvent.
Zhevago’s press service denied that he has been placed on the wanted list, insisting that Interpol has yet to decide whether to do so.
“The petition of the Ukrainian bureau of Interpol was sent to the central office of the organization back in October last year,” the oligarch’s press statement read. “The duration of its consideration indicates that the arguments presented in the document are not convincing and require careful study.”
Neither Interpol’s head office nor Ukrainian bureau immediately responded to request for comment.
