WASHINGTON — One of Ukraine’s most powerful tycoons, Dmitry Firtash, has been sued in New York over claims that he used fraud and coercion to obtain control of a $50 million soybean plant in Ukraine, Courthouse News Service reported Monday.
The lawsuit, filed by New York-based brothers Ilya and Vadim Segal, the former owners of the plant, alleges that Firtash got control of the plant through “a campaign of fraud, physical threats, coercion and corruption,” according to the report.
The suit accuses Firtash, owner of Ukraine’s Nadra bank, of seizing their assets via “sham lawsuits” over debt, and of using his connections to the government of President Viktor Yanukovych to guarantee the outcomes in court cases.
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