CHAMBERY, FRANCE (AP) – A Ukrainian billionaire and former legislator suspected of embezzling tens of millions of dollars was ordered freed from French custody on USD1 million bail on Thursday, after he called the Ukrainian case against him politically driven and declared he wants to fight Russians who invaded his country.
Mining magnate Kostiantyn Zhevago, 48, was arrested in the ski resort of Courchevel in the French Alps last week based on an international warrant issued by Ukraine.
“It’s really a political thing. I have always fought corrupt people in Ukraine,” Zhevago told a court hearing on Thursday in the Alpine city of Chambery. His wife and daughter were also present.
Ukrainian authorities submitted 244 pages of documents supporting their request for Zhevago’s extradition, and the court adjourned until January 19 to study them.
In the meantime, his team of lawyers said the court agreed to his release on EUR1 million (USD1.05 million) bail and ordered him to report to local French police once a week. Such large bail sums are quite rare in France.
“I have never been in prison. This is the first time. I do not deserve this. I want to get out of jail until the next hearing and do whatever you ask. I know that justice in France is based on democracy,” Zhevago appealed to the court.
His lawyers welcomed the decision to release him, saying in a statement it came “in a context marked by legitimate emotion and empathy”.
Prosecutors had argued he represents a flight risk, noting that his main residence is in Dubai, his family lives in London, has filed an asylum request in Gibraltar and has “very significant resources” to fund eventual travel.
Zhevago said he had nothing to do with the embezzlement he is accused of, and vigorously objected to extradition.
“I want to return to Ukraine, but not to go to prison – to fight against the (Russian) aggressors,” he said in his closing statement.
Zhevago was the principal beneficiary of Ukraine’s now-defunct Finance & Credit Bank and the former chief executive of mining company Ferrexpo, among the world’s top exporters of iron ore pellets and listed on the London Stock Exchange. Its operating base is in central Ukraine.
Zhevago was Ukraine’s youngest member of Parliament when first elected in 1998, and served until 2019, primarily as an independent.
In 2019, Ukrainian authorities launched a criminal case accusing him and other top managers of Finance & Credit Bank of jointly embezzling over USD100 million from the bank, according to Ukraine’s State Bureau of Investigations. It said the alleged scheme harmed “the interests of the state and the bank’s depositors”.
Zhevago’s properties, companies linked to him and other assets in Ukraine were seized as a result of the case.
“The Ukrainians say that I am an oligarch but it is not true. I have always fought the oligarchs,” Zhevago told the court.
Three French police officers escorted him out of the courtroom.
Wearing a black cap and coronavirus mask covering his face, he was whisked into a car and ferried away.
Like other Ukrainian tycoons, Zhevago’s wealth has shrunk since the Russian invasion.
Forbes estimated his net worth last year at USD1.3 billion, down from a pre-war estimate of USD2.2 billion.
“He considers that he has nothing to do here,” pleaded one of his lawyers, François Zimeray. “Zhevago is totally in support of his people.”
