Media: Kolomoisky fled Israel fearing extradition to the US
The Ukrainian oligarch Ihor Kolomoisky left Israel in a hurry, fearing prosecution and subsequent deportation to the US, reports the Telegram channel The Newsroom.
“Two unrelated sources have told us that Kolomoisky returned because the FBI had him pinned in Israel. The amount of information on the oligarch’s schemes is supposedly so large that the local Mossad had already gladly made plans to hand him over to the Americans, despite the fact that Israel does not extradite its own citizens to anyone (which is why Kolomoisky went there from Switzerland),” the Telegram channel states.
In its post, the channel remarks that Kolomoisky returned to Ukraine in the hope that the newly elected president, Volodymyr Zelensky, whose election campaign he supported, will not extradite him to the US out of gratitude.
“However, it is clear that this plan is not to the Americans’ liking. Especially since upon returning, Kolomoisky has already managed to kick two acquaintances of Trump’s friend Rudolph Giuliani, who tried to organize his meeting with Zelensky,” the Newroom writes.
Trump’s personal attorney, Rudolph Giuliani, recently called on the new Ukrainian government to start investigating Kolomoisky, since he had allegedly threatened American citizens. Giuliani also advised Zelensky to rid himself of all the oligarch’s people in his close circle. Apparently he was referring to Kolomoisky’s lawyer, Andriy Bohdan, who has been appointed head of the presidential administration.
“The US continues to circle Kolomoisky, as if on a hunt, and this circle is constantly growing smaller. According to our information, two days ago Giuliani was in Paris discussing the oligarch not only with the head of the Ukrainian Specialized Anti-corruption Prosecution, Nazar Holodnitsky, but also with the French prosecutor. What he wanted to dig up on Kolomoisky in France is not known. It is possible that he discussed the details of the extradition agreement between the two countries,” the article continues.
Ihor Kolomoisky, who has both Ukrainian and Israeli citizenship, returned to Ukraine on 16 May. He denied that his return was linked to Zelensky’s victory in the elections.