DALLAS — The federal government is looking to seize ownership of Dallas office park, formerly home to CompuCom headquarters, as well as an officer tower in Louisville, Ky. The Justice Department has alleged the commercial real estate was purchased as part of an international money laundering scheme.
Combined, the two properties are worth around $70 million, the government says.
In a civil complaint filed Thursday, the Justice Department alleged the properties were purchased by Ukrainian oligarchs using money stolen from a Ukrainian bank.
The oligarchs, Ihor Kolomoisky and Gennadiy Boholiubov, owned one of the largest banks in Ukraine, PrivatBank. The suit says they embezzled and defrauded the bank of billions of dollars, taking out fraudulent loans that the Justice Department says were rarely repaid except with more fraudulently obtained loans.
The complaint says Kolomoisky and Boholiubov laundered a portion of the money using different bank accounts before transferring funds to the U.S. With that money, the Justice Department said, the oligarchs purchased the U.S. real estate.
The Washington Post reported Kolomoisky's lawyer, Michael J. Sullivan, said the oligarch denies all allegations made by the U.S. Justice Department. Instead, Kolomoisky told the news outlet the money used to purchase U.S. properties was his own.
Federal agents reportedly conducted a raid of offices tied to the Ukrainian businessmen Tuesday. The Daily Beast reported the FBI was investigating Kolomoisky for financial crimes, including money laundering, as early as April 2019.
Kolomoisky is one of Ukraine's richest residents, mostly known in the U.S. for the role he played in the events leading up to the impeachment of Pres. Donald Trump.
Associates of Rudy Giuliani, Trump's personal attorney, reportedly met with Kolomoisky in an attempt to get Giuliani a meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky as he searched for information on Trump's political foe, presidential candidate Joe Biden.
