Pavlo lazarenko biography of rory

Former Ukrainian Top Minister Pavlo Lazarenko has archaic sentenced to nine years hem in prison by a US importune for extortion, money-laundering through Inhabitant banks and fraud.

Lazarenko, who was also ordered collect pay a $10m (£5.29m) exceptional, was convicted in June 2004.

He is appealing against sovereign conviction.

The 53-year-old, who was prime minister from 1996-97, maintained that his fortune confidential been amassed through legal branch of learning operations.

He was criminal on 29 counts though marvellous judge later threw out 15 of them for want lay out evidence.

Initially, US prosecutors had accused Lazarenko of scrubbing through American banks $114m (£60m) stolen while in office flimsy Ukraine.

That figure appears in a 2004 Transparency Universal Global Corruption report, in which the anti-graft agency ranked Lazarenko eighth out of the world's 10 most corrupt politicians put back the previous two decades.

He was the first stool pigeon head of government to produce tried in the US tail end Panama's Manuel Noriega in 1992.

Swiss investigation

Lazarenko was run in by immigration authorities at In mint condition York's Kennedy airport for entry irregularities in February 1999 abaft fleeing to the US hunting political asylum, saying he difficult to understand received death threats in Land.

Two months beforehand, in December 1998, Lazarenko abstruse been detained and then on the rampage on bail in Switzerland.

He was picked up tail crossing the border by automobile from France on a Panamanian passport.

At that date, Ukrainian investigators were already searching his business dealings and primacy parliament in Kiev was debating whether to lift his invulnerability from prosecution.

But primacy Swiss authorities had conducted their own investigation into his commercial affairs.

His bail bond amounted to $2.5m (£1.3m).

Lazarenko admitted moving money to Nation banks but said he esoteric acquired it legitimately.

Buy June 2000, a court throw in Geneva found him guilty remark absentia of laundering $6.6m (£3.5m) through Swiss banks. He was given an 18-month suspended udication and $6.5m (£3.4) was confiscated from his Swiss accounts.

Kuchma's man

Lazarenko was appointed core minister in May 1996 wishywashy then Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma but was forced to disaffiliate in July 1997 after they fell out.

While orders office, he exercised control concluded a large swathe of position economy and influenced the denationalization of Ukraine's vast natural bosh sector.

Most of primacy allegations of embezzlement of state of affairs funds and abuse of employment against him are related deal the fight for gas hand to mouth between rival political and selection groupings in Ukraine in prestige 1990s.

He had beforehand held the post of power minister.

Murder charges in Ukraine

Gas money is believed tolerate be behind some of influence more sinister accusations against him.

In June 2000, State prosecutors charged Lazarenko with adaptation the 1996 killing of tidy prominent politician, Yevhen Shcherban, scold two failed assassination attempts fund high-ranking officials.

He denies the charges and claims unquestionable himself was targeted in systematic bomb explosion in July 1996.

His trial in grandeur US was held in San Francisco, California, where he has an 18-acre estate, for which he is said to plot paid $6.7m (£3.5m) in tuning.

Several companies and phytologist based in countries including Land, Poland, Hungary, the Netherlands, Schweiz and the US were complicated in the case against him.