Olga Gutovskaya, a businesswoman, was able to acquire the assets of 21 bankrupt banks and gain access to information about thousands of Ukrainians.
In the banking sector of Ukraine, scandals occur frequently. Of course, the loudest is the case of the theft of UAH 8.4 billion from Privatbank by former management. But even in its “shadow” there are stories. One of them is the purchase of assets of 21 bankrupt banks for next to nothing. The main person involved in this scandal was businesswoman and lawyer Olga Gutovskaya. “Comments” looked into the details of the scandal and how it happened.
Who is Olga Gutovskaya
Olga Gutovskaya first appeared in the Ukrainian information space in 2019 as a lawyer, commenting on the Privatbank case for one of the Ukrainian publications, which tried to return through a London court almost $2 billion previously withdrawn from the financial institution. It is curious that in the YouControl analytical service, data about lawyer Olga Gutovskaya dates back only to May 2023, when she became a lawyer in the Lviv region.
Previously, from 2012 to 2019, “Ms. Lawyer” was an assistant to the People’s Deputy of Ukraine, leader of the VO “Svoboda” Oleg Tyagnibok. She also did business through the companies “End Pi Kyiv” and “Chandelier Group” and led two public organizations.
Gutovskaya’s husband was an employee of the State Tax Inspectorate, Yaroslav Zemlyansky, although for some reason the latter kept silent about his wife’s income in his 2019 declaration. However, if at that moment she lived and worked in London, this was understandable.
According to the StopCor website, in 2020 Gutovskaya became a co-owner (75%) of WWRT Limited, a company registered in London, with an authorized capital of only 5 pounds sterling.
The latter specializes in the search and recovery of assets around the world, according to the company's website on the Internet. True, it is impossible to get acquainted with the company’s “portfolio” and its successful actions, since there is no information on the website.
The success of the company can be judged by Olga Gutovskaya’s speeches in the Ukrainian media. So, in June 2022, she allegedly achieved the arrest of ex-banker Sergei Tishchenko, owner of Fortuna Bank, in a fraud case, and did this in London. And just 3 weeks later, the businessman was detained in London, as reported by Comments.
Bank Fortuna itself, which had been experiencing problems since 2014, was officially declared bankrupt back in February 2017. And although officially 99.5% of the bank belonged to Mr. Tishchenko’s mother, Motrona Tishchenko, Sergei personally guaranteed part of the financial institution’s loans, so that later, through the court, he sought bankruptcy for himself as an individual.
According to the plot of the case, Sergei Tishchenko and his wife Elena were accused of withdrawing $100 million from Fortuna Bank, and the plaintiff in the case was WWRT, who probably acted in the interests of a certain customer. In any case, one would think so, if not for one fact that became known almost 1.5 years later.
What is Olga Gutovskaya charged with?
In December 2023, journalists from the StopKor project talked with Sergei Tishchenko’s ex-wife, Elena, and conducted an investigation into the activities of Olga Gutovskaya.
According to Elena Tishchenko, Olga Gutkovskaya’s activities are aimed at purchasing for next to nothing a package of debts from a number of Ukrainian bankrupt banks. Actually, it was WWRT Limited that another company, Star Investment Van, assigned a package of debts from a number of Ukrainian bankrupt banks, which it itself acquired at one time for only 0.03% of the total value of all loans and pledges.
“And when they were already formalizing the assignment, this intent clearly emerged. Because they ceded rights only for loans. And Star Investment Van kept the deposit for himself. According to the laws of both Ukraine and any other country, this is impossible. Because the pledge secures the fulfillment of the underlying obligation. It is exclusively linked to the loan. And by the fact that they kept the collateral for themselves and gave up loans to the WWRT company, they have already shown that these are in fact the same people.”
Indeed, according to YouControl, Star Investment Van LLC operates in Ukraine, which officially deals with real estate. At the same time, as follows from some court decisions, the company often buys debtors' property from various banks. Actually, before changing the type of activity to “housing rental” from March 31, 2023, the company had the main economic activity code 82.91 “Activities of debt collection agencies and credit history bureaus.”
Officially, Star Investment Van LLC itself belongs to the Czech company Star Investment Ceset Van LLC, and its owner is Luxembourg citizen Eriks Martinovsksis.
At the same time, there are several criminal cases in which, according to the media, Olga Gutovskaya is a suspect.
It should be noted that the activities of Star Investment Van and WWRT Limited can concern every Ukrainian, since the portfolios purchased at virtually no cost include many ordinary loans from ordinary citizens. And the one who bought this “lot” gained access to their personal data.
Thus, the company of a “famous international lawyer”, who became a lawyer only six months ago, and about whose company there is no clear information even on the company’s website, can get its hands on data on thousands or even tens of thousands of Ukrainians who owe loans to 21 banks. Where personal data will go after this is a very important question, especially in the context of an ongoing war.
