The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) and the Prosecutor Generalʼs Office, together with law enforcement officers from France and Monaco, detained the son of former “Motor Sich” president Vyacheslav Bohuslaev — Oleksandr — who, together with his father, is suspected of embezzling the companyʼs assets.
SBU reports this without naming the people involved in the case, but from the details it is clear that we are talking about the Bohuslayevs.
According to the investigation, the defendants illegally seized a controlling stake in a state-owned enterprise and later sold it for $650 million. Bohuslaev Jr. helped his father appropriate the companyʼs shares and then sell them to third parties.
To pull off this scheme, the then head of “Motor Sich” organized an inventory of the companyʼs assets and deliberately understated the real value of its shares. He initially bought 65% of the securities at a significantly reduced price, and transferred most of them to six offshore companies owned by his son. To "whiten" these assets, they were sold to foreign companies, and the proceeds were used to buy luxury real estate in the European Union.
During the international investigation, searches were conducted simultaneously at his villa on the coast in Monaco and at the homes of people associated with him in Zaporizhzhia.
The Security Service investigators have informed the son of the former president of “Motor Sich” of suspicion of legalization of property obtained through criminal means. He faces up to 12 years in prison
Bohuslaev Sr., who is already in custody on charges of collaborating with Russia, has received new suspicions. His actions were additionally qualified as misappropriation of property through abuse of office, as well as organization of laundering of funds obtained by criminal means. The investigation believes that the crimes were committed by an organized group and on a particularly large scale.
Bohuslaevʼs case
On October 22, 2022, SBU detained the former president of “Motor Sich” Vyacheslav Bohuslaev. He is suspected of treason — he and the head of the department of foreign economic activity supplied aircraft engines for combat helicopters to Russia (even after a full-scale invasion). Bohuslaev is currently in pre-trial detention. Ukraine has imposed sanctions against him.
SBU later found that Bohuslaev blocked the delivery of a Mi-2 combat helicopter to the Main Intelligence Directorate (known as GUR) of the Ministry of Defense in April 2022. He continued to communicate with Russian businessmen and officials with access to the Russian high military command, and complained to them about the strikes on the factory and looting by Russian soldiers. SBI has already handed over the Mi-2 helicopter to the military.
On May 10, 2023, the Schemes journalists discovered that Vyacheslav Bohuslaev asked the Office of the President of Ukraine to include him on the list for exchange with Russia.
For more news and in-depth stories from Ukraine please follow us on X.