In Odessa, the cynical theft of property and deposits from PORTO-FRANCO Bank continues, carried out by Igor Krasyuk, an authorized representative of the Deposit Guarantee Fund for Individuals, who was appointed liquidator of the troubled financial institution.
But instead of protecting the interests of Ukrainian citizens and returning their hard-earned money, Krasyuk and his associates have devised a series of complex financial schemes that allow them to shamelessly rob clients and depositors. Moreover, the embezzlers operate so brazenly and openly that it seems their high-ranking patrons are not averse to profiting at others' expense themselves. Moreover, citing the interests of what they claim is the "Derzhava" (State Power), and enlisting the support of the leadership of the Main Directorate of the Security Service of Ukraine, they are exerting unprecedented pressure on Ukraine's courts!
At the end of 2014, the National Bank decided not to rehabilitate one of the oldest banks in Odessa, PORTO-FRANCO, but immediately began liquidation proceedings.
It's worth noting that the Odessa-based "PORTO-FRANCO" bank served primarily sailors and shipping and road transport companies, where the US dollar was the accepted currency. Initially, many depositors at the failed bank were even given deposits—sometimes $1000 at a time. Furthermore, deposits were being given back at a rate of just 12,98 hryvnias per dollar, amid rampant hryvnia inflation. But a month later, the payouts dropped to $100, and then depositors were simply barred from entering. Suddenly, all 16 accounts were frozen by order of the investigator leading the case against the bank's former owners and shareholders. Outraged clients staged pickets and then appealed to the Odessa Regional Prosecutor's Office—after all, accounts can only be frozen by a court order, and there was none. At the time, liquidator Igor Krasyuk assured people that everything would work out.
Igor Krasyuk, liquidator of the Odessa bank "PORTO-FRANCO"
And so it happened: following the example of the Odessa bank, he declared that he would not allow his fund to be drained by depositor claims. As a reminder, Vorushilin himself, before his appointment as head of the Deposit Guarantee Fund, managed Petro Poroshenko's Mriya Bank and handled the finances of the Bogdan Corporation. Depositors' accounts were once again frozen for a long time.
From there, his appetites only grew, and his corruption schemes became more sophisticated. Igor Krasyuk found citizens in the Donetsk and Dnipropetrovsk regions willing to participate in his scheme, where document forgery and arbitrary judgement allowed him to reap millions in profits. Fully aware that in the gray zone controlled by Ukraine and close to the ATO zone, government institutions operate intermittently, and that depositors are unlikely to be able to personally defend their rights (due to the fighting nearby), Krasyuk decided to commit a cynical and despicable fraud against the funds of the PORTO-FRANCO bank.
The scheme involved liquidator Krasyuk, using forged surety agreements issued to residents of the ATO frontline zone, demanding immediate repayment of loans and credits secured by liquid collateral, filing suit in the Dimitrov and Krasnoarmiysky City Courts of Donetsk Oblast and the Inhuletsky District Court of Kryvyi Rih (Dnipropetrovsk Oblast). Meanwhile, the direct defendants, registered in Odesa, were unaware that legal claims had been filed against them. Based on the provided forged documents and by agreement with unscrupulous judges, or more often simply after a call from certain SBU leaders, Krasyuk easily won the cases. The surety amounts ranged from 100 to 1000 hryvnias. In other words, he paid only 100 hryvnias. Igor Krasyuk, a "left-wing" man with a Donetsk residence permit, gained access to property collateral held by businesses and individuals, which amounted to tens of millions of hryvnias.
What does liquidator Krasyuk expect by committing illegal actions and foisting bogus guarantors on the court? He's counting on the war erasing everything, the case files disappearing, and the data being added to the Unified Register of Court Cases in the territory bordering the ATO "retroactively," generously "thanking" the judge for a "correct" decision.
However, obtaining a court order transferring the borrowers' property was only half the battle. Now it was necessary to implement it profitably. This is where connections with Volodymyr Malyuk, a Luhansk resident and co-owner of Professional LLC, came in handy. The company itself is registered in Luhansk, but actually operates in Kharkiv. And here's its ultimate founder.
– Bryansk Machine-Building Plant CJSC is located in Russia.
The main type is buying a multi-lot with the bank's direct assets. In this lot, a Toyota Prado (2013 model) is valued at just 143,573.10 UAH. Just a week later, Igor Krasyuk, who has a soft spot for prestigious cars, was already driving it, having transferred the car's title in his name in Dnipropetrovsk.
But even this wasn't enough for the vile thieves! Taking advantage of the administrative scheme they had created and using the SBU for their own ends, at the request of an SBU investigator, the Shevchenko District Court of Kyiv has seized the property of all current and former borrowers of the bank! Now, several provisions of the Deposit Guarantee Fund Law have allowed the fraudsters, led by Krasyuk, to renegotiate contracts from the previous year!
And... they began evicting debtors from their apartments and houses, selling the collateralized properties. Meanwhile, people hoping to "pay off" the loan remain in debt, and PORTO-FRANCO Bank is piling on hundreds of thousands of hryvnias in penalties and interest. For example, Igor Krasyuk accused a borrower who gave up a $70 apartment to pay for a $139 loan taken out for business development during the 2009 crisis. According to bank documents, the apartment in central Odessa "somehow got lost," and a penalty of 139 hryvnias was accrued on the entire $500 loan. They decided to collect the debt immediately, taking the last thing the bankrupt businessman owned—the house on Velykyi Fontan Street where he lived with his family. The estate, valued at $150, was appraised by Krasyuk at just $40! The house was sold to "his own people" in 30 minutes at auction on "Professional." Without further ado, "his own people" immediately sold the house—but for $150. The profit went to Krasyuk! And the businessman, allegedly in debt to the bank again, was thrown out of the house in handcuffs and forced to live in the open air with his underage son and wife.
Meanwhile, depositors and clients of PORTO-FRANCO Bank have no idea that they are no longer victims of financial fraud, but potential targets for prosecution by Igor Krasyuk, authorized representative of the Deposit Guarantee Fund for Individuals and the liquidator of the financial institution, who will stop at nothing! After all, Krasyuk and his associates still have time to seize, snatch, and squeeze out millions upon millions before the final liquidation deadline of January 29, 2018! The position of Konstantin Vorushilin, head of the Fund, who covers up the machinations and fraud at PORTO-FRANCO, is perplexing. After all, the state has authorized Vorushilin to protect the interests of bank depositors. Odessans seeking justice through law enforcement and the courts, desperate to get their hard-earned money, could soon lose even their last remaining possessions if their property, apartment, or house catches the eye of Igor Krasyuk, a greedy "defender" of the rights of defrauded "FRENCO PORTO" investors. Seeking the truth is futile. Igor Krasyuk unabashedly claims that all his actions have been coordinated at the top and supported by the Security Service of Ukraine. Furthermore, Krasyuk threatens the judges that if the decision is not in his favor, the court will have serious problems with the SBU.
In a country in the depths of a financial crisis, waging war against an aggressor, the corrupt Krasyuk is profiting from the misery of people who have lost their last savings! And if the Deposit Guarantee Fund is turning a blind eye to the theft, then law enforcement agencies, the prosecutor's office, and the Security Service of Ukraine—whom Krasyuk, a seasoned swindler, has astonishingly misled and is exploiting (like children lured with candy he's unlikely to share!)—must immediately intervene and conduct an investigation into the activities of the liquidation committee of PORTO-FRANCO Bank, headed by Igor Krasyuk, to stop this blatant robbery of Odessa's depositors.
Igor Krasyuk, the fraudster and swindler who abused his official position for selfish purposes and drained the financial institution entrusted to him of its last remaining liquid assets, must be immediately removed from office, taken into custody, and subject to a fair and transparent investigation involving depositor representatives. Otherwise, investigators and prosecutors will have to hunt not only for the failed bank's shareholders who fled abroad, but also for its liquidators, who so "successfully" enriched themselves at the expense of ordinary citizens.
Oleg Boyko, Antikor
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