US may confiscate Pavel Lazarenko's money in favor of Ukraine

The U.S. Department of Justice is trying to confiscate more than $200 million from former Ukrainian Prime Minister Pavlo Lazarenko in favor of Ukraine through a civil forfeiture procedure in a lengthy lawsuit, Mary Butler, head of the international division of the U.S. Department of Justice's Money Laundering and Asset Recovery Unit, said in an interview with the Armenian service of Voice of America.

Butler noted that Lazarenko was convicted in the Northern District of California court in San Francisco, where he served about six years in prison. At the same time, the scope of charges in the case on which Lazarenko was convicted was much narrower than the charges that are under the jurisdiction of the US Department of Justice.

"The case is still not over. But I am pleased to announce that we have reached another decision that brings us closer to the possibility of obtaining a final decision on confiscation. Then Lazarenko can appeal as much as he wants. But we are still moving forward. We may be talking about more than $200 million," the official emphasized.

The Ministry of Justice is seeking to confiscate more than $200 million of Lazarenko's money arrested in different countries. Litigation over these funds has been going on for about 20 years.

Author - Dmitriy Levchenko, 06/08/2024