Court seizes property of former MP Viktor Medvedchuk's wife worth over $152 million
Oksana Marchenko (Photo:SBU)
A court has seized the property of Viktor Medvedchuk's wife Oksana Marchenko, who is suspected of financing Russian occupation groups, the press service of Ukraine’s SBU security service reported on Feb. 23.
The total value of the seized assets exceeds UAH 5.6 billion ($152 million), the SBU said.
The security service said the court's decision concerns stakes of 14% in two regional power distribution companies and more than 4% in a third, which Marchenko owns through five offshore companies.
Two land plots, four residential buildings in Kyiv and Crimea, and 10 cars belonging to the suspect were also seized.
In addition, Marchenko's assets in 18 investments in agricultural, telecommunications and other companies were sequestered.
The SBU noted that among them are the Kyiv-based companies Terra-Invest, UkrCapital and Sport-Tour, which the security service said Medvedchuk's wife used to conduct subversive activities against Ukraine.
"It was they who founded the company under the laws of the Russian Federation, through which Marchenko transferred millions of dollars to the accounts of Russia’s National Guard and the Russian Interior Ministry in (Russian-) occupied Crimea, as well as paying ‘taxes’ to the Russian budget," the statement said.
Earlier, SBU investigators pressed charges against Marchenko and the head of the affiliated Crimean company under Part 3 of Article 110-2 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (financing actions committed with the aim of violent change or overthrow of the constitutional order or seizure of state power, change of the boundaries of the territory or state border of Ukraine).
Currently, a top manager of UkrCapital and Sport-Tour has been charged under the same article. He has been detained and custody was imposed as a pre-trial restriction.
The crime of which Marchenko and the managers of the companies involved are suspected carries a penalty of imprisonment with confiscation of property. The seizure of assets will ensure the possibility of their expropriation by court order and protect the property from being re-registered to other persons.
Investigations are ongoing to bring to justice all persons involved in the criminal schemes, the SBU said.
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