Elite villa, offshores and stocks: what the family of the ex-head of Motor Sich did to take millions abroad

A joint operation by the Security Service of Ukraine, the Prosecutor General’s Office, and law enforcement agencies of France and the Principality of Monaco exposed a large-scale scheme to embezzle the assets of the Ukrainian company Motor Sich.

According to information received from the SBU press service, the son of the former head of the company was detained in Monaco during an international investigation. He and his father are suspected of illegally embezzling a controlling stake in the company, which was sold for 650 million US dollars.

Before the start of the Russian Federation’s full-scale aggression, the defendant’s son helped his father implement a scheme to seize part of the state assets. To do this, the former president of Motor Sich organized an inventory, during which he artificially lowered the market value of the shares.

Subsequently, he bought 65% of the shares at an undervalued price and transferred most of them to six offshore companies owned by his son. The assets were then legalized through sale to foreign entities, and the proceeds were used to purchase luxury real estate in Europe.

As part of an international special operation, searches were simultaneously conducted in the detainee’s luxurious estate in Monaco and his apartments in Zaporizhia.

The son of the former president of Motor Sich is charged under Part 3 of Article 209 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine with legalizing criminal proceeds committed by an organized group on a vast scale. He faces up to 12 years in prison and property confiscation.

His father, who is already in custody on charges of collaboration with Russia, has also received new suspicions. The case has been additionally qualified under other articles:

Part 5 of Article 191 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine – misappropriation of property through abuse of official position on a massive scale by an organized group;
Part 3 of Article 27, Part 3 of Article 209 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine – organization of legalization of criminally obtained assets.
The investigation is ongoing, and the Office of the Prosecutor General of Ukraine handles procedural management.