Security Service nets 6 banks involved in money laundering

May29200920:25

Six Ukrainian commercial banks were part of a powerful money-laundering center with a monthly turnover estimated at $4.5 million, SBU Director Valentyn Nalyvajchenko told journalists on the heels of his debriefing by Pres Yushchenko, RBK-Ukrayina reports.

SBU named AktaBank, Daniel bank, Unex bank among others, saying the delinquent banks do not belong to the top 20 Ukrainian banks.

Nalyvajchenko informed that the president is to call a meeting of 30 major Ukrainian banks to discuss the issue of money laundering.

SBU has launched a probe, same as the Prosecutor General’s Office, Nalyvajchenko said. As the probe unfolds, CEOs of banks and businesses which are party to this large-scale swindle will likely face criminal charges.

Employers of the blown money-laundering center provided services to over 300 businesses to minimize their taxes. Crooks used banks located in Kyiv and Dnipropetrovsk, to funnel funds abroad to companies in off-shore havens. These companies bought goods and imported them in Ukraine at heavily understated prices.

Following the initial results of the investigation, SBU seized the accounts of 20 commercial companies, totaling $400,000.

SBU has also arrested a courier with $100,000 in cash and $1 mln worth of counterfeit bills of exchange on him.