A Ukrainian businessman and former politician, who is suspected of embezzling more than 94 million euros, was arrested at a ski resort in the French Alps.
French police arrested Kostiantyn Zhevago at a hotel in Courchevel on the basis of an international arrest warrant, Ukraine’s State Bureau of Investigation said in a statement.
The House Prosecutor’s Office confirmed the arrest and said that “he will appear in court on Wednesday or Thursday for the first stage of the extradition process to Ukraine.”
Zhevago was the main beneficiary of the now bankrupt Finance and Credit Bank of Ukraine and the former chief executive of the mining company Ferrexpo.
Zhevago served in the Ukrainian parliament from 1998 to 2019, mostly as an independent.
In 2019, Ukrainian authorities filed a criminal case accusing him and other senior managers of the Finance and Credit Bank of jointly embezzling over $100 million from the bank.
Ukraine issued an arrest warrant for Zhevago in 2019, with an international arrest warrant following in 2021.
