US returns funds to Ukraine which were taken out by Ministry of Justice under former president Yanukovych
The US returned to Ukraine $500,000 which was siphoned off by the former leadership of the Ministry of Justice during Viktor Yanukovych’s presidency and taken out of Ukraine through fictitious agreements on providing services with an American firm.
“Today the department of international legal cooperation of the Prosecutor General’s Office of Ukraine, in close cooperation with the US Department of Justice, has returned to Ukraine more than $500, 000,” Prosecutor General Yuriy Lutsenko wrote on Facebook.
The criminal proceedings regarding this case are still underway.
The case in question would appear to be that of a contract made by the Ministry of Justice with the American judicial company Skadden in May 2012. Skadden was supposed to carry out an “independent assessment of the court trial of former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko” in connection with the case against Ukraine in the European Court of Justice.
One year later, Inna Emelyanova, the first deputy to then Justice Minister Aleksandr Lavrinovich, announced that Skadden’s services cost Ukraine 10.2 million hryvnia ($390 000 USD).