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Ukrainian businessman Dmytro Firtash arrested after extradition ruling Ukrainian businessman Dmytro Firtash arrested after extradition ruling
(about 3 hours later)
The Ukrainian businessman Dmytro Firtash has been detained in Vienna on a European arrest warrant, a spokeswoman for the city’s prosecutors has said on Tuesday, minutes after an Austrian court granted an extradition request from the US. Powerful in Ukraine, stranded in Austria for the past three years, and wanted by US authorities on bribery charges, Ukrainian oligarch Dmytro Firtash is no stranger to intrigue.
The spokeswoman said Firtash’s detention was technically separate from the extradition ruling as it was based on a Spanish request for his arrest for which she could give no details. On Tuesday his case took yet another turn as a Vienna court ordered his extradition to the US – and he was taken into custody on a European arrest warrant by Austrian police just hours later.
She said it was too early to tell how the implementation of the European arrest warrant would impact on the decision to extradite Firtash to the US over bribery allegations which he denies. The prosecutor’s office said the arrest was not to do with the US warrant, but due to supplementary information received from Spanish authorities, raising the possibility the oligarch may be extradited to Spain rather than the US.
The extradition approval on Tuesday overturned an earlier ruling that had said the US request was politically motivated. Firtash denies the bribery charges and has always argued they are politically motivated – Washington’s way of removing him from the Ukrainian political playing field at a sensitive time.
Firtash is a former supporter of Ukraine’s ousted president, Viktor Yanukovich, and made a fortune selling Russian gas to the Kiev government. The case has taken on an extra dimension of geopolitical interest because the businessman is a one-time partner of Paul Manafort, formerly Donald Trump’s campaign manager.
“[The appeal against the previous ruling] has been granted,” the judge told a courtroom packed with journalists and Firtash’s family. “This does not mean that somebody is being prejudged as guilty, but rather that it will be decided in another country whether they are guilty or innocent.” Firtash, who brokered gas deals with the Kremlin over many years, was arrested just weeks after the 2014 Maidan revolution in Ukraine ousted former president Viktor Yanukovych from power. He was released after putting up €125m (£105m) bail, and has been marooned in Vienna ever since.
The judge said that since the previous Austrian court ruling, the US had offered further documents, based on witness statements, to strengthen its case against Firtash. In 2015, an Austrian judge refused the extradition request, agreeing with Firtash’s lawyers that the charges were politically motivated. The judge, Christoph Bauer, said in the surprise ruling that the initial extradition request was an attempt to weaken Yanukovych by removing one of his main allies from Ukraine.
A US grand jury indicted Firtash in 2013, along with a member of India’s parliament and four others, on suspicion of bribing Indian government officials to gain access to minerals used to make titanium-based products. The Guardian saw emails from the FBI to Austrian authorities which appeared to suggest US policy on whether or not to move against Firtash fluctuated depending on the political situation in Ukraine.
Speaking before Tuesday’s verdict, Firtash’s lawyer, Dieter Böhmdorfer, reiterated the accusation that the US was driven by politics in the case. Speaking before Tuesday’s verdict, Firtash’s lawyer, Dieter Böoehmdorfer, reiterated the accusation that the US was driven by politics in the case.
“We must not allow Austria to become a stooge for the political world power the USA,” Böhmdorfer told the court, adding that Firtash was a victim of a US strategy to minimise Russian influence in Ukraine. “We must not allow Austria to become a stooge for the political world power the USA,” Böoehmdorfer told the court.
Washington welcomed the ousting of the pro-Russian Yanukovich amid mass street protests in February 2014 and has backed his pro-western successor, Petro Poroshenko. Yanukovich now lives in exile in Russia. But a court statement summarising Tuesday’s appeal ruling said: “The crimes Firtash is accused of have no political character.”
The Austrian judge dismissed Böhmdorfer’s charge and said Firtash would get a fair trial in the US. While the Obama administration had little time for Yanukovych and believed Firtash to be a negative and possibly pro-Russian influence on Ukrainian politics, Firtash’s links to Manafort could provide him with powerful allies in Trump’s administration.
Firtash, whose business concerns in gas trading and chemicals thrived under Yanukovich, has not returned to Ukraine since his initial detention in Vienna in March 2014. Manafort resigned from the Trump campaign in August. He is one of a number of Trump associates to come under scrutiny for ties to Russia or Ukraine. Although he has no formal role in the new administration, Manafort is known to still take a keen interest in Ukrainian affairs.
His star has waned under the current administration partly due to his exile, but Firtash retains influence thanks to his part-ownership of Inter, a top Ukrainian television channel, and his gas distribution and fertiliser businesses. In addition to his work for Yanukovych, Manafort also worked with Ukrainian oligarchs, including Firtash. In 2008, a group including Manafort and Firtash negotiated an $895m (£718m) deal to buy a New York hotel, which they wanted to redevelop as a mall and spa, according to filings from an unrelated lawsuit. The court filings include memos of meetings Firtash and Manafort attended in Kiev. The deal eventually fell through.
He is Ukraine’s 16th richest man, with an estimated wealth of $251m (£202m) as of 2016, according to Forbes Ukraine.He is Ukraine’s 16th richest man, with an estimated wealth of $251m (£202m) as of 2016, according to Forbes Ukraine.