You're reading: Media: Lazarenko released from prison

Former Ukrainian Prime Minister Pavlo Lazarenko, who has spent more than ten years in prison for financial fraud, has been released from U.S. Federal Correctional Institution (FCI) Terminal Island in California, the Ukrayinska Pravda Internet publication reported quoting its correspondent in Los-Angeles.

As reported, Lazarenko plans to go to his U.S. estate from prison, where he is to meet with his wife and children.

Lazarenko’s defense lawyers do not rule out that their client will
remain under the supervision of the U.S. law enforcers even after his
release, as the issue on his residence remains unsettled.

Meanwhile, the Prosecutor General’s Office of Ukraine (PGO) stated
that as soon as Lazarenko returns to Ukraine he would be arrested. The
ex-premier’s lawyer said that Ukrainian investigators allege his
involvement in around 50 cases, particularly bribery, appropriation of
funds, and abuse of power.

Lazarenko was convicted in the United States of embezzling illegally
obtained funds and transferring them to foreign accounts in 1994-1999. A
Californian court sentenced Lazarenko to nine years in prison in August
2006. He remained in his apartment in San Francisco under house arrest
pending the consideration of the appeal against his conviction. In June
2011, Lazarenko’s custody was shortened by seven months, to Jan. 11,
2012.

It was reported in August 2011, citing Chris Burke, a spokesman for
the Federal Bureau of Prisons, that Lazarenko is to be released from
prison in the United States on Nov. 1, 2012, rather than on Jan.11, 2012, as was planned earlier. On Aug. 4, 2011, Lazarenko was
transferred from the Federal Correctional Institution (FCI) in Dublin
(California) to FCI Terminal Island, a low-security prison for men (also
in California).