Schweizerischer Bankenombudsman -

среда, 20 ноября 2013 г.

Ukraine seeks ‘Tymoshenko’ funds

Ukraine’s top prosecutor, Viktor Pshonka, has met his Swiss colleagues to inform them that formal complaints against opposition leader and former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko for embezzlement could be filed in the near future.

Pshonka travelled to Switzerland last week for talks with prosecutors in Bern and Geneva. The Attorney General’s office confirmed that the complaints were discussed, but its spokesman said that Tymoshenko’s name was not mentioned, given the sensitive nature of the case.

However the Ukrainian prosecutor told Swiss public broadcaster RTS that Tymoshenko was being targeted.

“A lot of people think that Yulia Tymoshenko is first and foremost a politician who is only interested in politics,” Pshonka said. “This is not the case. She gave all her energy to reach just one goal: bypass our laws and make money for herself.”

Earlier this month, the Ukrainian government mandated a London-based law practice to recover funds that were allegedly embezzled by the former prime minister during the 1990s.

As the head of United Energy Systems, the company with the monopoly for natural gas distribution at the time, she is accused of shifting to foreign bank accounts huge sums of money, aided and abetted by mentor, the then prime minister, Pavel Lazarenko.

Lazarenko has since been sentenced in the United States and Switzerland for corruption and money laundering.

According to Pshonka, the complaints that are to be filed in Switzerland concern funds, worth hundreds of millions of dollars, deposited in Swiss banks by companies controlled by Tymoshenko and Lazarenko.

“It is time to ensure that the misappropriated funds are returned to Ukraine in a civilised way, respecting all international norms,” he added.

swissinfo.ch and agencies
November 19, 2013 - 12:00

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