FBI Raids U.S. Company With Ties to Ukrainian Oligarch
A U.S. company affiliated with the Ukrainian billionaire Igor Kolomoisky that has been accused of participating in an international fraud scheme was raided by the FBI in two locations on Tuesday.
Agents conducted “law enforcement activity” in Cleveland and Miami at addresses that correspond with the offices of Optima Management Group, according to FBI Special Agent Vicki Anderson.
No arrests were made, she said. Photographs published by the Cleveland Plain Dealer show agents taking boxes from the Cleveland location.
Optima was part of an international scheme in which billions of dollars were siphoned from a Ukrainian bank by Kolomoisky to buy U.S. real estate, according to a civil lawsuit filed last year in Delaware. A grand jury in Cleveland is investigating Kolomoisky’s suspected role in the scheme, BuzzFeed News reported.
Optima is controlled by three Floridians accused in the suit of serving as Kolomoisky’s business representatives in the U.S., acquiring assets in their own name with money allegedly diverted from Privatbank, which Kolomoisky co-founded.
No lawyer is listed as representing Kolomoisky in the suit, and he hasn’t responded to the complaint.
A company also called Optima and based in Cleveland received at least $2 million in loans from the Paycheck Protection Program, the coronavirus relief program for small and midsize companies.
A spokesman for Optima declined to comment.
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Federal agents raid offices of company tied to Ukrainian oligarch
Washington — Agents with the FBI and the Internal Revenue Service on Tuesday raided two offices belonging to Optima Management Group, a company with ties to a Ukrainian oligarch, federal law enforcement sources tell CBS News.
FBI raids offices at downtown One Cleveland Center building tied to Ukrainian oligarch
CLEVELAND, Ohio — The FBI on Tuesday raided the Cleveland offices of a company with ties to a Ukrainian oligarch that owns several downtown buildings.
FBI spokeswoman Vicki Anderson said agents searched the offices of Optima Management Group in One Cleveland Center at East 9th Street and St. Clair Avenue. A spokesman for the IRS also said his agency’s investigators were present.
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