A Ukrainian court has approved the pre-trial detention of Kostiantyn Hryhoryshyn, a businessman who has left the country and is suspected of embezzling funds from an energy provider, prosecutors announced.
The ruling marks a procedural step that authorities say will pave the way for seeking an international arrest warrant through Interpol. A Red Notice, which asks member states to detain a suspect pending extradition, could follow.
Prosecutors also confirmed that investigative authorities have frozen funds held in banking institutions and placed restrictions on the corporate rights of three companies linked to Hryhoryshyn.
Ukraine’s Bureau of Economic Security stated in March that approximately 68 million Ukrainian hryvnia, equivalent to roughly $1.3 million, was allegedly siphoned from an energy supplier between 2020 and 2024 through fraudulent activities. Investigators allege that Hryhoryshyn, along with senior managers, created a fictitious advisory position that required just four hours of work per week while drawing a monthly salary of 1.5 million hryvnia — roughly $29,000.
Through his legal representatives, Hryhoryshyn has denied the allegations and characterized the case as politically motivated.
While his current location remains unknown, financial records and property registries have traced Hryhoryshyn’s footprint to luxury properties in France and Switzerland. Luxembourg company registry data shows he is the beneficial owner of a firm that holds three plots of land in the Courchevel ski resort in the French Alps, where two chalets have been built. The registry also indicates that Hryhoryshyn updated his personal address to an estate on Lake Geneva in Switzerland, where he has submitted planning applications for renovations.
There is no evidence suggesting that funds from the alleged embezzlement scheme were used to acquire or maintain these properties, authorities have noted.