REUTERS
As of June 30, 2018, some 21 people had been put on the international wanted list at the initiative of NABU.
Agents of the National Anti-corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) have identified at least 23 countries on three continents where companies involved in corruption-related crimes in Ukraine were registered to conceal corrupt Ukrainian officials' money.
These are Austria, Belize, China, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, the Dominican Republic, Estonia, Georgia, Germany, Hong Kong, Italy, Kazakhstan, Latvia, Monaco, Montenegro, the Netherlands, Panama, Poland, Russia, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom, and Uruguay, NABU said in infographics posted on its website on August 21.
In most corruption-related schemes revealed by NABU agents, these are foreign-registered companies that act as intermediaries for siphoning illegal funds from Ukraine.
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Damage done to the national interests of Ukraine with the participation of such foreign counteragents is estimated at UAH 1.84 billion (US66.4 million), US$22.07 million, and EUR 12.03 million, NABU said in a report on its performance in the first half of 2018.
"[NABU's] detectives are sure that a simplified registration system, complicated information disclosure procedures and a high degree of confidentiality are key criteria used by Ukrainian corrupt officials to register such structures," the Bureau said.
NABU sends requests for international legal assistance to competent authorities of other states to receive information about the ultimate beneficiaries of such structures and on the movement of funds siphoned from Ukraine.
Since the beginning of the investigations, the Bureau has sent 371 such requests to the authorities of 61 countries; of them, 182 have already been handled, it said.
"As of June 30, 2018, more than 30 people whose cases are under NABU investigation and who are suspected by [NABU] agents of involvement in fraud were hiding from investigators abroad," NABU said.
"And every second of them, according to the investigation, is in Russia. Three more people are hiding, apparently in the temporarily occupied territories of Donetsk region and the Autonomous Republic of Crimea," it said.
As of June 30, 2018, some 21 people had been put on the international wanted list at the initiative of NABU.