In a stunning move against one of Ukraine's most powerful figures, oligarch Ihor Kolomoisky was stripped of his citizenship in a bold step that could remove his protections in the event he’s charged for allegedly stealing millions from the nation’s largest bank and concealing the money in steel mills and skyscrapers in the American heartland.

Mr. Zelenskyy’s order in the midst of the war with Russia comes after years of legal battles by prosecutors to seize U.S. properties they say the oligarch and his partners bought with money stolen from his former bank the losses large enough to cripple the country's economy and moved into the United States between 2008 and 2015.

For years, Mr. Kolomoisky was safe in his native country because there’s no extradition treaty between the United States and Ukraine. But without citizenship, he’s open to being taken into custody and sent to the U.S.

https://www.post-gazette.com/news/crime-courts/2022/07/24/oligarch-ihor-kolomoisky-stripped-ukraine-citizenship/stories/202207230047

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[repost from last bread]

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has stripped his former key ally Igor Kolomoisky, who is under FBI investigation, of his Ukrainian citizenship. Kolomoisky, an infamous oligarch and one of the richest men in Ukraine, is wanted by the FBI over one of the largest money laundering cases in history, according to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

Zelensky's recent order to strip his former ally of citizenship, confirmed to the newspaper by two sources close to Zelensky, opens up the potential of extradition to the United States. The oligarch had previously been safe in Ukraine, as no extradition treaty exists there with the U.S.

Zelensky's government is "taking serious measures," former U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine John Herbst told the outlet. "It may be a response to this latest expression of concern about corruption in Ukraine. If this is true, this is a big deal. Ukraine, of course, is fighting for its life."

Zelensky owes much of his political career to Kolomoisky, whose television channel aired his show and heavily promoted him. The oligarch was likely Zelensky's biggest donor during his presidential campaign, leading to the president's derogatory designation as the "Kolomoisky candidate," according to the Spectator. He visited the exiled billionaire a dozen times in Geneva and Tel Aviv during his campaign, appointed one of his lawyers as an adviser, and even broke COVID-19 lockdown protocols to attend his birthday party in Kiev in early 2021.

Kolomoisky was once one of the most powerful men in Ukraine. As the governor of Dnipropetrovsk Oblast during the 2014 crises, he became what one American diplomat described as a "warlord." Dubbed "Ukraine's secret weapon" in 2014 by the Wall Street Journal, Kolomoisky used his own fortune to boost the Ukrainian army, then to create his own private army, according to Vox.

https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/policy/foreign/zelensky-revokes-citizenship-donor-subject-fbi-investigation