Former Privatbank top execs listed as suspects in embezzlement case

The National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine is suspecting three former executives of JSC CB PRIVATBANK of embezzling funds from the lender.

The authorities did not release the names of the suspects, but media outlets including Reuters identified two of them as Privatbank's former deputy head Volodymyr Yatsenko and former CEO Oleksandr Dubilet. The third suspect used to work as head of one of the bank's divisions and also as first deputy head of an insurance company affiliated with Privatbank.

In December 2016, the day before Privatbank was declared insolvent, the three suspects, using false documents, transferred more than 136.9 million hryvnia from the bank to the affiliated insurance company, the anti-corruption bureau said Feb. 23.

The location of two suspects its unknown. A third was detained at an airport in Kiev when trying to leave for Vienna in a private jet.

Privatbank was nationalized at the end of 2016. The former owners of the bank have been trying to reverse the nationalization, with the dispute between them and the Ukrainian state resulting in multiple lawsuits.

As of Feb. 23, US$1 was equivalent to 27.97 Ukrainian hryvnia.