A mysterious full-page advertisement in the Sept. 25 issue of the International Herald Tribune outlines in detail the so-called “blood trail” of Oleksandr Shepelev, a former Ukrainian member of parliament and Donetsk banker.
Shepelev, 44, a former deputy of both ex-Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko’s opposition Batkivshchyna Party and the ruling Party of Regions between 2006 and 2012, was detained along with his wife in Hungary on July 4 after spending more than six months on the international wanted list for suspicion of attempted murder and embezzlement.
The advertisement, titled “European asylum or
Ukrainian prison?” points the finger at Shepelev for ordering three contract
killings and the attempted assassination of a business partner.
It alleges also that Shepelev embezzled some “Hr 8
billion ($983 million) provided by the government to keep Rodovid Bank afloat
during the financial crisis of 2009.” It also says that Shepelev may have used
his “long-term business and political contacts” to “leave Ukraine to escape
from the law and, after his arrest by Interpol in Hungary, promptly submit an
application for asylum.”
The Kyiv Post could not reach Shepelev or his lawyer,
his father, Oleksandr Shepelev Sr. for comment. The General Prosecutor’s Office
of Ukraine also did not respond to requests for comments.
Shepelev’s application for asylum is expected
to be heard in early October. The advertisement warns that his applying for
such is “blatant manipulation of international law: a criminal offender accused
of murder and financial fraud attempting to present himself as a victim of political
repression.”
It is unclear exactly who is behind the ad, which
reportedly cost the advertiser somewhere in the neighborhood of $80,000 to run,
according to Business New Europe, citing its own sources. The apparent
advertiser, Parwood Consult LLP, turns out to be a United Kingdom shell company
with a Birmingham, England, address and an internet domain in Kyiv. It was
created on June 27, 2011, the same day as its two untraceable Marshall
Island-based directors, Arta
Consulting Ltd. and Montbar Ltd. – both also shell companies.
Shepelev was arrested in Budapest while allegedly in
possession of a fake Hungarian passport under the name Shevchenko, along with
his Ukrainian, Canadian and Georgian passports.
The press service of the Foreign Ministry of Ukraine
told Interfax-Ukraine on Aug. 14 that Hungary is deciding on the extradition of
Shepelev and his wife, as they cannot be granted the status of refugee, having
been charged with serious crimes in Ukraine.
The Foreign Ministry’s press service also said that
individuals who committed serious crimes can not apply or be granted refugee
status, according to international legal conventions on the status of refugees.
In April 2012, the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU)
said that a criminal case had been opened against the former deputy in February
2011. The former parliamentarian is suspected of embezzling more than Hr 220
million from Rodovid Bank and participating with businessman Pavlo Borulko in
the embezzlement of public funds from the National Bank of Ukraine to the tune
of Hr 315.3 million between March and May 2009.
Shepelev
is being defended by his father, Oleksandr Shepelev Sr. In an interview last
July with Dzerkalo Tyzhnia, the elder Shepelev said that the case against his
son has nothing to do with justice, but is politically motivated. He also said
he is confident the Security Service of Ukraine, known by the SBU acronym, and
the Prosecutor General’s Office have no evidence to take to an independent
European court and extradite the former deputy to Ukraine.
“I
think the customers of the criminal case against Shepelev Jr. aim to obtain
information on and discredit primarily Yulia Tymoshenko who had played an
important role in the nationalization of Rodovid Bank. They want to get
information about a number of high-ranking politicians which contacted him
during their joint work in banks,” Shepelev Sr. said.
The
main purpose for the criminal charges, he added, is to place the responsibility
for Rodovid Bank’s multibillion-dollar losses on someone other than those
actually accountable for them. Shepelev is a politically convenient target, he
said.
Kyiv Post editor Christopher J.
Miller can be reached at [email protected].
