Corrupt Billionaire Behind Zelensky's Rise To Fame & Power Arrested

https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/corrupt-billionaire-behind-zelenskys-rise-fame-power-arrested

https://twitter.com/nypost/status/1322622002805571584

TUESDAY, SEP 05, 2023

With an estimated fortune of just under $1.7 billion, Ihor Kolomoisky is among Ukraine's top five richest citizens. Over the weekend he was arrested by Ukraine authorities on an array of fraud and money laundering charges, at a sensitive moment the government is trying to show the world it can tackle deeply rooted corruption.

A Saturday statement from the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) said that the billionaire, referred to as the "de facto owner of a large financial and industrial group" -- had allegedly tried to launder over 500 million Ukrainian hryvnia ($13.5 million) by "transferring it abroad, while using the infrastructure of banking institutions controlled by him."

A Kyiv court has ordered him to pretrial detention for two months amid an ongoing investigation, with bail having been set at a whopping $14 million.

Importantly, The New York Times in its Tuesday coverage of Kolomoisky's arrest highlighted that he was an early major backer of now President Volodymyr Zelensky who had a hand in bringing him to power. He's also widely believed to have funded extremist private militia armies at various times.

Writes the NY Times: "His business interests have included oil and banking, and he was once considered a patron of Mr. Zelensky, a former comedian whose popular shows were broadcast on Mr. Kolomoisky’s television channel before he successfully ran for the presidency."

And further very revealing details are included in the Times report as follows:

Suspicions of corruption and embezzlement have dogged Mr. Kolomoisky for years. In 2017, he left Ukraine for Switzerland and Israel after the government of then-President Petro O. Poroshenko seized a bank he co-owned and accused him of a large-scale fraud that threatened to destabilize Ukraine’s economy.

He returned in 2019 after Mr. Zelensky’s defeat of Mr. Poroshenko, raising fears that his ties to the new president would help him regain his economic and political clout.

So naturally, Western mainstream press is now presenting this as a "big fish" prosecution showing Zelensky is getting "tough" and finally going gloves-off on exposing long-standing corruption.

The timing is also interesting given Zelensky just sacked his own defense minister, an announcement which came the same weekend as billionaire Kolomoisky's arrest. "This week, parliament will be asked to make a personnel decision … I have decided to replace the minister of defense of Ukraine. Oleksii Reznikov has gone through more than 550 days of full-scale war," Zelensky said over the weekend.

And guess who was degrees of separation away from Hunter Biden, related to shady Bursima relationships? "Besides being connected through the Burisma energy giant, Hunter Biden did business with Igor Kolomoisky's bank," one prior report reads.