The US State Department sanctioned one of Ukraine’s most powerful tycoons, Ihor Kolomoisky, as US authorities also pursue a civil case alleging he stole billions of dollars from a Ukrainian bank he once owned and laundered the funds into the United States and other places, The Washington Post reports.
Kolomoisky and his family members were sanctioned under a US law that allows the State Department to designate officials of foreign governments involved in human rights violations and corruption. According to a State Department official, designation under the law prevents individuals from entering the United States but doesn’t result in the imposition of financial sanctions.
The tycoon was involved in “significant corruption” during his stint as governor of Ukraine’s Dnipropetrovsk region from 2014 to 2015, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement Friday, alleging that the tycoon’s acts while in office “undermined the rule of law and the Ukrainian public’s faith in their government’s democratic institutions and public processes.”
