PrivatBank won the court case in London against Kolomoisky and Bogolyubov

PrivatBank won a multi-billion dollar lawsuit in London against its former owners Ihor Kolomoisky and Hennadiy Boholyubov, the bank announced on Wednesday, according to UNN.

PrivatBank won an undeniable victory in a multi-billion dollar English lawsuit against Kolomoisky and Boholyubov

This refers to the decision of the High Court in London. Thus, the decision was made in favor of PrivatBank.

As noted by PrivatBank, this court decision is a complete victory for the bank, which was nationalized by the Ukrainian government in December 2016. At the time of nationalization, the bank, as stated, was undercapitalized by approximately USD 5.5 billion and was subsequently recapitalized by the state.

"In the court decision issued today, the High Court of London recognized that these two individuals illegally appropriated almost USD 2 billion of the bank's funds through a "very complex re-lending scheme that operated in the interests of the individual defendants [i.e., Messrs. Kolomoisky and Boholyubov]". The decision against them can hardly be more incriminating, as it outlines a scheme of what was previously described as "fraud of Byzantine complexity," PrivatBank reported. 

The bank stated that, "by rejecting Messrs. Kolomoisky and Boholyubov's claims that there was 'no evidence' linking the bank's former owners to these transactions, Judge Trower found that their objections were 'entirely based on dishonesty'". "The judge also found that Mr. Kolomoisky 'seemed to consider himself above the law' and that it was 'dishonest on the part of Mr. Boholyubov' to use misleading documents to distance himself from the fraud," the statement reads.

The full amount of the former owners' liability to the bank, it is reported, is yet to be determined, "but given that the court satisfied the bank's claims in full, they will likely be obliged to pay over USD 1.7 billion even without taking into account interest for more than a decade." "The full amount payable to the bank, including interest and legal costs, will be determined at the next hearing later this year and will likely significantly exceed USD 2 billion in total," PrivatBank noted.  

In 2017, the bank, according to the report, obtained a worldwide freezing order against the defendants' assets. "Currently, the bank and its legal advisors will proceed to the stage of damages recovery and will seek to enforce the court's decision regarding these assets to obtain compensation for the bank and, accordingly, for its shareholder - the government of Ukraine," the statement said.

Addition

In 2018, PrivatBank filed an appeal against the decision of the High Court of London, according to which the bank was denied consideration of the claim against the former owners of the bank.

According to PrivatBank, the judge recognized that the bank was a victim of large-scale fraudulent actions - for an amount of approximately USD 329 million to USD 1.2 billion, but concluded that the English court does not have jurisdiction to consider the bank's claim against its former shareholders. But the court allowed this decision to be appealed, which PrivatBank did.

The High Court of London held a series of hearings from July 25 to July 31, 2018, on PrivatBank's lawsuit against the former owners of the financial institution regarding the organization of fraudulent schemes involving the withdrawal of funds totaling USD 1.9 billion.

Subsequently, PrivatBank won in the Court of Appeal in London in the case against the former owners.