Kolomoyskyi caught: From oligarch to suspect in murder plot
Ukrainian prosecutors have reported suspicions that oligarch Ihor Kolomoyskyi organized a contract killing while he is also in custody for large-scale financial wrongdoing.
11:27 AM EDT, May 8, 2024
While the prosecution has not named names, an anonymized photo linked to the announcement allowed the well-known oligarch to be easily identified.
According to former journalist and ex-deputy Serhiy Leshchenko, the allegation involves Kolomoyskyi ordering the murder of lawyer Serhiy Karpenko, who had resisted complying with the oligarch's directives in a dispute concerning the Dniprospecstal company in Zaporizhzhia, as reported by Interfax-Ukraine agency.
Kolomoyskyi under suspicion
The prosecution alleges that Kolomoyskyi commissioned a gang, known for its involvement in contract killings, to execute the lawyer. The attack left the lawyer severely wounded by a knife, though he survived.
In September 2023, the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) informed Kolomoyskyi that he, along with others, is suspected of embezzling over 9.2 billion hryvnias (more than 232 million euros) from PrivatBank, which he once controlled. This sum is roughly equivalent to over 254 million USD.
Previously, a Kyiv court mandated two months of custody for Kolomoyskyi, one of Ukraine's richest businessmen, who remains detained.
Kolomoyskyi, a supporter of current President Volodymyr Zelenskyy during the 2019 Ukrainian presidential elections, saw the president declare post-arrest that Ukraine is set to enforce "different rules," promising no leniency for those who have exploited the country and placed themselves above the law.
