Mansion of oligarch Zhevago worth $40 million seized in Paris

In Paris, at the request of the Ukrainian prosecutor’s office, a mansion belonging to Ukrainian businessman Kostiantyn Zhevago worth $40 million (about €36.1 million) has been seized.

This was reported by the Office of the Prosecutor General of Ukraine.

The seizure of the property was the result of international cooperation between Ukrainian and French law enforcement. The mansion was seized on November 9 in execution of a request for international legal assistance that the Prosecutor General’s Office sent to the French side on September 17. Ukrainian law enforcement received confirmation of the property seizure on November 10.

The measures were taken as part of criminal proceedings, the pre-trial investigation of which is being conducted by the State Bureau of Investigation under the procedural supervision of prosecutors from the Prosecutor General’s Office.

According to the investigation, Zhevago, who controlled more than 90% of the authorized capital of the bank “Finance and Credit,” in collusion with other representatives of the financial institution’s management, organized a scheme to embezzle $113 million (about €101.9 million). Investigators believe that these funds were subsequently laundered through offshore structures and other companies controlled by the businessman.

The Prosecutor General’s Office thanked their French colleagues for their cooperation and assistance in the investigation. They noted that this result confirms the importance of international interaction in the fight against financial crimes and the search for assets linked to illegal activities.

The department emphasized that they will continue to cooperate with law enforcement agencies of other countries to investigate the case and search for related assets abroad.

Recall that in March, Zhevago was served a suspicion notice in Paris in a case involving the embezzlement of more than 1.5 billion hryvnias from the bank (about €29.8 million). Zhevago was detained in France at the end of 2022 at the request for extradition from Ukraine, but French courts have so far rejected these requests.