Court arrests $35 million of ex-regionalist Makeenko: ARMA will transfer money to the Armed Forces
19 July 00:09
The court ruled to transfer more than UAH 1.5 billion belonging to a former MP to the National Asset Recovery and Management Agency based on a motion filed by the Prosecutor General’s Office. The total amount of assets exceeds 35 million US dollars. This was reported by "Komersant Ukrainian" with reference to the State Bureau of Investigation.
These funds and securities were kept in accounts with a bank in the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg and were seized as part of criminal proceedings.
“The owner of the assets is a former MP of several convocations, former deputy head of the Party of Regions faction and head of the Kyiv City State Administration. According to the investigation, he had been running a hidden business abroad for years, in particular, he controlled offshore companies registered in Panama, Hong Kong, Cyprus and the British Virgin Islands. These companies brought him considerable profits every year, but he did not pay taxes to the budget of Ukraine,” the statement said.
According to Ekonomichna Pravda, this is Volodymyr Makeenko.
The State Bureau of Investigation, with the operational support of the Security Service of Ukraine, is investigating this criminal proceeding on the fact of tax evasion on a particularly large scale. In September 2024, SBI investigators notified this MP of suspicion of tax evasion.
The Member of Parliament of Ukraine of the I, III-VII convocations, former Deputy Head of the Party of Regions faction and Head of the Kyiv City State Administration is suspected of tax evasion, which led to the actual non-receipt of funds to the budget in particularly large amounts (Part 3 of Article 212 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine).
The sanction of the article provides for up to three years of imprisonment with confiscation of property.
Measures to establish all the circumstances of the illegal activity and compensate for the losses caused to the state are currently underway.
According to the ARMA, the assets were seized in Luxembourg as part of the proceedings on tax evasion on a large scale. The money is to be transferred to the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
The Agency noted that the funds and securities were held on the accounts of offshore companies controlled by the ex-official. The assets were seized in Luxembourg by the local Asset Management Office, and later ARMA initiated their transfer.
Now the work at the international level must continue to legalize the Ukrainian court decision in the jurisdiction of Luxembourg. ARMA is also preparing the necessary applications to the Office of the Prosecutor General to initiate the process of international legal assistance for the recognition and enforcement of the Ukrainian court decision in Luxembourg.
