Burisma Corruption; The Cliffnotes
To be clear:
The head of Burisma has been wanted in Ukraine in the past before. Even the UK and EU froze his assets. He fled the country. After Hunter Biden hired, investigations were dropped.
Then in 2015-2016 Prosecutor Shokin issued a new warrant and confiscated the Burisma head's property and Rolls-Royce. Quite the car for an oligarch.
Shokin then handed one investigation into oligarch Mykola Zlochevsky off to NABU which is a US-tied office
Biden was furious at Shokin over all this. Biden spoke to Poroshenko by phone in Feb 2016. Told Poroshenko to drop Shokin or he wouldn't get IMF funds.
Remember, Biden is on video confirming this point.
4 days later, Ukrainian President Poroshenko called for Shokin to step down
March 29: The Ukrainian parliament, in a 289-to-6 vote, approved Shokin’s dismissal.
On March 31, Poroshenko met with Biden during a trip to Washington, and Biden pressured the Ukrainian president that the IMF loan guarantee is contingent on further reform progress beyond Shokin’s removal.
Quid pro quo.
This is all from WaPo:
The next prosecutor closed the investigation into Burisma's owner Zlochevsky, and removed him from the most-wanted list. The oligarch then returned to Ukraine after years abroad.
Then, Poroshenko lost election in a massive Zelinsky landslide. Zelinsky came in as a reformer, and brought in a new prosecutor.
Yesterday, Ukrainian MPs leaked a document at a press conference they say is a new signed draft indictment of the oligarch
The new Prosecutor General confirmed he is reviewing 13 cases related to Burisma oligarch Mykola Zlochevsky
This included suspicion of embezzling state funds
Zlochevsky is now suspected of the “theft of government funds on an especially large scale" according to the Ukrainian Prosecutor General
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