Former Kyiv Mayor Leonid Chernovetsky said Spanish law enforcement agencies did not detain his son Stepan Chernovetsky, he is staying at home and is answering police questions related to another person.
“In the morning today, I learnt the news from the press that my son had allegedly been detained in Spain on suspicion of money laundering! Horrible news blown out of proportion by Spanish journalists! But I say with responsibility that my son had never been engaged in any undertakings, even those verging on crimes,” Chernovetsky wrote on Facebook on July 12.
“It was unnecessary for him, because he has a lot of money in his accounts, which he had honestly earned from the sale of a bank in Ukraine! He is an honest person! And exclusively law-abiding!” he said.
He said that his son had not been detained and had been staying at his home in Barcelona, and had been answering questions from police about the details related to “a certain person”. “If they wanted to detain him, he would have been detained already long ago. It is next to nothing to detain a person in Spain,” Chernovetsky said.
Besides, he expressed confidence that the Spanish police would apologize to his son already in the course of the day. “As the police have officially announced about him in the press, my family will not leave it [unaddressed] to them so easily. We will file serious legal claims to the Barcelona police for the reports defaming my son,” Chernovetsky said.
On July 13 he or his son will issue a new statement regarding this situation, Chernovetsky also said.
Spain’s El Mundo has earlier reported about the detention in Barcelona of eleven people, including Stepan Chernovetsky, who are accused of involvement in the activity of a criminal organization, money laundering, falsification of official documents and illegal tax schemes.
El Pais reported that the son of the former mayor and other persons “have laundered” nearly EUR 10 million. Stepan Chernovetsky and his accomplices have bought companies in Spain in order to launder the funds, which are located in other countries, mainly Cyprus and the Virgin Islands. Besides, the son of the former Kyiv mayor was detained not in Barcelona, but in an elite sea resort town of Costa Brava, the edition said. The media outlet reported that the criminal organization had consisted of people, who are “mainly Ukrainian natives.”
