You're reading: Funds in frozen bank accounts of Yanukovych entourage’s nonresident companies estimated at $1.42 billion

Funds in frozen bank accounts of nonresident companies belonging to former Ukrainian president Viktor Yanukovych's entourage are estimated at $1.42 billion, Ukraine's State Financial Monitoring Service reported on its website.

“The sum of frozen assets in 44 bank accounts of nonresident companies controlled by the ‘Yanukovych’s kindred’ is $1.42 billion, including $1.37 billion located in the Ukrainian territory,” the report reads.

The $1.37 billion was frozen by the monitoring service under rulings by Kyiv’s Pechersky district court.

According to the source, all these 44 nonresident companies are registered in Cyprus, Panama, the United Kingdom, Belize, Seychelles, and Austria. Using accounts opened in banks of Latvia, they transferred $1.37 billion to accounts at Ukrainian banks in 2010-2013. Most of the funds were spent on buying government bonds.

The monitoring service has reported that it has actively been investigating cases of laundering of the money received by Yanukovych, his relatives, officials of the former government and affiliated entities by acts of corruption, theft and misappropriation of public funds and property. The service has also brought actions against persons involved in the organization of a deliberate mass murder of people and separatists’ activity in Ukraine.

Investigators have identified 538 bank accounts belonging to 93 individuals and 81 bank accounts belonging to 32 legal entities affiliated with these individuals: frozen are funds worth Hr 1.73 billion, $194.3 million,18.1 million euro and 21.7 million rubles, precious metals (gold and silver) worth Hr 3 million, as well as securities worth Hr 2.6 billion and $1 billion.

In total, Ukraine’s financial intelligence has prepared 268 cases with materials about financial transactions effected with the participation of Viktor Yanukovych, his relatives and former government officials and authorities, and sent them to law enforcement agencies.

“The total sum of financial transactions that may be related to money laundering, which is highlighted in the said materials, is Hr 147.8 billion, and the amount of financial transactions that may be linked to other crimes is Hr 11.1 billion,” the monitoring service reported.

Special attention is paid to the search for the abovementioned assets abroad: investigators have sent requests to financial intelligence units in 136 countries to establish and further freeze bank accounts, corporate rights, securities and other rights of claim, movable and immovable property and other assets located abroad.

“Cooperation is particularly active with representatives of the U.S. financial intelligence unit and government agencies,” the report says.

The monitoring service reported that its priority activity also includes identification and blocking of incomes of persons who finance terrorism and those who publicly call for forcible change or overthrow of a constitutional order or change of the boundaries of Ukraine.

“The State Financial Monitoring Service has prepared 73 cases with materials and sent them to law enforcement agencies… As a result of the measures taken by the monitoring service jointly with the Security Service of Ukraine, funds worth Hr 2.05 billion in total have been identified and blocked,” the report says.

In 2014, the State Financial Monitoring Service sent 88 cases to the Prosecutor General of Ukraine, 180 cases to the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine, 102 cases to the State Fiscal Service, and 106 cases to the Security Service of Ukraine.

The financial transactions identified in these materials in connection with money laundering are estimated at Hr 267.4 billion and with commitment of other crimes at Hr 52.6 billion.