Ukrainian oligarch Ihor Kolomoisky’s commercial interests reportedly prompted murder plot, police say.

A Kyiv court has ruled a decision that Ukrainian businessman Ihor Kolomoisky must remain in custody until 7 July 2024 and refused to grant him bail, according to the “Graty” media outlet.

Kolomoisky has been in the Security Service detention center since 2 September, suspected of fraud and money laundering by the Bureau of Economic Security. Initially, he was due for release on bail until 2 June, with a bond set at over $47 million. However, with the new suspicion, bail was declined.

According to an investigation, Kolomoisky allegedly ordered the murder of a head of “one of the legal companies,” who, in 2003, refused to adopt a decision that aligned with the interests of Kolomoisky.

“The businessman had a personal, commercial interest in the operation of the metallurgical plant, and the decisions of the general shareholders’ meetings of the enterprise did not allow the suspect to realize his profit plan fully,” the Ukrainian Police reported.

The Prosecutor’s Office does not specify which enterprise is involved. However, the details of this crime were known about 20 years ago. In 2005, the Prosecutor General’s Office initiated a criminal case against Kolomoisky, accusing him of organizing the murder of a lawyer, as per BBC.

The investigation found that the businessman allegedly wanted to change the documents regarding the shareholders’ meetings of the Zaporizhzhia plant “Dniprospetsstal” with his help, but the lawyer refused. After that, Serhii Karpenko, who at that time worked with the oligarch Viktor Pinchuk, was brutally beaten.

“The perpetrators of the crime in August 2003 met the lawyer in broad daylight as he was leaving a store in the city of Feodosia, in Crimea.

The attackers struck the victim with a metal rod on the head and stabbed him in the chest, abdomen, and back. The attackers were prevented from finishing off the man by his wife, and doctors managed to save his life,” the police said.

Subsequently, all four suspects were arrested and sentenced to prison sentences. Based on new evidence, Kolomoisky faces life imprisonment.

Prosecutors and investigators are conducting urgent investigative and procedural actions aimed at identifying all individuals involved in the crime. The pre-trial investigation in the criminal case is ongoing.

Related:

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• Ukraine launches a new agency in the Ministry of Defense to make procurement more efficient
• Ukraine’s Security Service officially notified of suspicion a notorious oligarch Kolomoyskyi sanctioned by the US

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