PGO: Former Interior Minister Zakharchenko Suspected Of Money Laundering Worth UAH 10 Billion Through Smartbank

The Prosecutor General's Office suspects former interior minister Vitalii Zakharchenko and his entourage of money laundering worth UAH 10 billion through Smartbank.
This is said in court materials, Ukrainian News Agency reports.
The Prosecutor General's Office has submitted a motion to obtain access to documents regarding Smartbank stored at the National Bank of Ukraine.
According to documents provided by the Prosecutor General's Office, the special investigation department of the Prosecutor General's Office carries out pre-trial investigation on facts of criminal activities of Zakharchenko and his entourage, including bribery, creation of bogus companies, tax evasion, and money laundering.
The Prosecutor General's Office says the investigation has enough reasons to consider that the public joint stock company Smartbank was established to hide the illegal activities and providing illegal financial transactions on forming technical tax credits regarding VAT, i.e. tax evasion. According to the documents, Smartbank was involved in conversion in cash of UAH 10.346 billion.
The court allowed the Prosecutor General's Office to take some documents from the National Bank of Ukraine regarding Smartbank.
As Ukrainian News Agency earlier reported, the Deposits Guarantee Fund (DGF) has extended the liquidation of Smartbank (Kyiv) until July 24, 2019 inclusively.
On May 24, 2016, the National Bank of Ukraine declared Smartbank as insolvent due to its intransparent ownership structure.
The Pecherskyi District Court of Kyiv has authorized the Prosecutor-General's Office to launch a special (in absentia) investigation against former interior affairs minister Vitalii Zakharchenko in connection with the case involving the organization of shooting of Euromaidan activists.