MOSCOW, December 21. /TASS/. Ukrainskaya Pravda newspaper said its reporters have discovered Timur Mindich, a businessman and friend of Vladimir Zelensky who fled Ukraine, in Israel.
The paper published a photo of the businessman, adding it was taken in Israel. The details are promised to be released later.
In Ukraine, Mindich was named the mastermind of a large-scale corruption scheme involving former and current cabinet members. The businessman fled a few hours before searches at his home, which raised questions about the leak of investigation data. After Mindich was charged in absentia, Zelensky imposed sanctions against him.
After that, Ukrainian businessman Igor Kolomoisky (listed in Russia as an extremist and terrorist) said in the courtroom that an attempt had been made on Mindich's life in Israel on November 28. According to him, a housekeeper was injured, and the criminals arrested. However, the Israeli police did not confirm this.
The Mindich case
On November 10, the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) and the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office (SAPO) carried out a large-scale operation to uncover a major corruption scheme in the energy sector. The investigation named Mindich as the coordinator of the scheme. According to the investigation, the participants of the criminal scheme laundered at least $100 million. On the same day, NABU began publishing fragments of recordings of conversations in the businessman's apartment in which corruption schemes were discussed. There are 1,000 hours of the tapes.
On November 11, NABU filed the first charges, including Mindich as the head of a criminal organization, and former Deputy Prime Minister and ex-Minister of National Unity Alexey Chernyshov, who is Zelensky's friend.