Ex-Ukrainian PM guilty of extortion

A jury in San Francisco tonight found former Ukrainian Prime Minister Pavlo Lazarenko guilty of money laundering and extortion charges.

Prosecutors argued he had misused his high office in the former Soviet republic to get rich through a series of business schemes in his homeland.

Lazarenko, 51, denied he siphoned funds or accepted bribes in exchange for government contracts and favours, claiming his multi-million dollar fortune was earned legitimately at a time his country had a new – and lawless – free-market economy.

Defence lawyers said a conviction could bring him a maximum of five years in prison.

According to the prosecution, Lazarenko used his political clout to set up an international underground network of bank accounts to launder profits made through clandestine schemes involving natural gas, agribusiness, housing and other businesses in Ukraine.

The prosecution said $114m (€93m) was directed to banks in the United States, mostly institutions in San Francisco.

Lazarenko sought political asylum in the United States in 1999 during his country’s presidential election campaign, claiming he had faced three assassination attempts.

The US government said it decided to try him to prevent criminals from using the United States as a safe haven for dirty money.

He is the first former head of government to be tried in the United States since Manuel Noriega of Panama.

Lazarenko was released last year on $86m (€70m) bail and placed under 24-hour surveillance.