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Offshore Leaks Database

Data from
Panama Papers - The Power Players
Convicted former Ukraine prime minister

Pavlo Lazarenko

Offshore companies were subjects of multiple corruption investigations

Related to

Ukraine

About

Once named one of the world's 10 most corrupt politicians by Transparency International, Pavlo Lazarenko spent eight years under house arrest and in prison in the United States after his 2004 conviction for money laundering and conspiracy. Prosecutors said he stole at least $200 million when he controlled much of the Ukraine's economy, especially lucrative natural gas contracts, and laundered $114 million through U.S. banks. About a year after his 2012 release from prison, U.S. authorities seized his assets, including a Picasso lithograph and a California mansion once occupied by actor Eddie Murphy, to help satisfy outstanding fines. Switzerland seized $6.6 million that Lazarenko stashed there and in 2000 convicted him in absentia of money laundering.

In the data

Lazarenko and his offshore firms have been a target of law enforcement investigations, going back to 1998, when British Virgin Islands police served three search warrants on Mossack Fonseca. Two sought information on Metalsrussia Corp Ltd. and Southeast Asia Metal Limited, naming Lazarenko and Yulia Tymoshenko, who would later become Ukraine’s president, and her husband in the warrants. A third sought information concerning "an investigation into Criminal Offences involving misappropriation of state or public property and forgery in respect of Bainfield Company Ltd." and additional information on Bassington Ltd. Lazarenko was a shareholder in both, dating back to the mid-1990s. Lazarenko was convicted of money laundering in Switzerland in June 2000 and convicted of money laundering in the United States in 2004 and sentenced to nine years in prison, later reduced to 97 months. U.S. authorities are still seeking $250 million from his offshore accounts.

Response

Lazarenko's criminal defense lawyer did not respond to repeated requests for comment.
This visualization contains relevant information in relation to the profiled individual. Some additional connections might show up once we release the full structured data connected to the Paradise Papers investigation in the coming weeks.

Disclaimer

There are legitimate uses for offshore companies and trusts. The inclusion of a person or entity in the ICIJ Offshore Leaks Database is not intended to suggest or imply that they have engaged in illegal or improper conduct. Many people and entities have the same or similar names. We suggest you confirm the identities of any individuals or entities included in the database based on addresses or other identifiable information. The data comes directly from the leaked files ICIJ has received in connection with various investigations and each dataset encompasses a defined time period specified in the database. Some information may have changed over time. Please contact us if you find an error in the database.

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