The Public Council of Ukraine has appealed to the Russian intelligence service to help uncover instances of corruption in the activities of the Ukrainian president.
Poroshenko
Ukrainian activists are asking the Russian Federal Financial Monitoring Service (Rosfinmonitoring) for assistance in investigating the involvement of Ukrainian officials in large-scale money laundering. On September 16, Valentin Khaletsky, chairman of the Public Council of Ukraine, sent a letter to Yuriy Chikhanchin, head of Rosfinmonitoring (Izvestia has a copy). Khaletsky stated that he is counting on assistance from Russian financial intelligence and international financial organizations in investigating the siphoning of funds from the Ukrainian budget through the offshore company Intraco Management Ltd., which is allegedly linked to Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko and Ukrainian MP Ihor Kononenko.
The letter states that the appeal was prompted by information published in the publication "Fourth Estate" alleging that Petro Poroshenko and Ihor Kononenko are directly connected to the offshore company Intraco Management Ltd., through which large sums of foreign currency of unknown origin were regularly transferred. Specifically, between 2012 and 2015, this offshore company processed significant foreign currency payments and also received large amounts of cash into its accounts, including through Russian banks. Payment orders included Kononenko's contact information. Funds from this offshore account were also transferred to the account of the MP's daughter, Daria, and were also used to pay for the aircraft used by Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko.
Furthermore, journalists found evidence that Intraco Management Ltd. received significant transfers from other offshore companies during Poroshenko's presidency of Ukraine—€100, €200, and €500. The head of this offshore company is identified as Petro Poroshenko's longtime business partner, Jeffrey Magistrate. In 2005, media reported that Magistrate is an American citizen but resides permanently in Cyprus and is involved in organizing offshore companies for Poroshenko.
"Considering this, this case clearly shows signs of corruption and requires a thorough investigation involving international organizations and institutions to establish the involvement of Ukrainian officials in large-scale money laundering through offshore companies. At the same time, establishing all the circumstances of this case and identifying those responsible for the criminal acts is impossible without the participation of Russian and international institutions. Russia has ample capacity to effectively investigate money laundering cases, including those involving Russian financial institutions," the NGO's letter states.
In light of the emergence of such information, the Public Council of Ukraine is requesting assistance from Rosfinmonitoring in "investigating the involvement of Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko and MP Igor Kononenko in the offshore company Intraco Management Ltd, as well as in the laundering of money by this offshore company."
The press service of Rosfinmonitoring declined to comment on the appeal by the Public Council of Ukraine.
The Public Council of Ukraine confirmed that the letter had been sent, but declined to provide further clarification.
Deputies from Poroshenko's bloc in the Verkhovna Rada refused to comment on the country's president's involvement in offshore companies and the laundering of funds stolen from the state budget.
It's worth noting that following the publication of the "Fourth Estate" investigation, bne IntelliNews published data showing Ukrainian officials were also linked to offshore companies that illegally supplied weapons to Libya in defiance of UN sanctions, and presented new evidence that members of the Ukrainian president's inner circle were laundering money through offshore companies. In 2013, the UN Security Council confirmed that the DG Arms factory had indeed collaborated with Ukrinmash, Ukraine's official arms exporter, in 2011, and that arms shipments were routed through the United Arab Emirates to Libya.
The publication also published evidence—SWIFT data—that former First Deputy Prosecutor General of Ukraine Mykola Herasymyuk paid for real estate in Slovakia in August 2014 through Eko Most, a company whose director is a member of Herasymyuk's family. Herasymyuk also paid for his daughter's education at Durham University in the UK through a British shell company, Smartus Business, which is linked to the already infamous offshore company, Intraco Management.
In the subject: Andriy Portnov found Poroshenko's money in offshore accounts.
And also: Igor Kononenko, the President's Army Buddy
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