{"id":249302,"date":"2022-10-21T16:00:00","date_gmt":"2022-10-21T21:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/csinewsnow.com\/?p=249302"},"modified":"2022-10-21T16:46:24","modified_gmt":"2022-10-21T21:46:24","slug":"hoeven-nd-farmer-out-of-jail-remains-in-ukraine","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/csinewsnow.com\/?p=249302","title":{"rendered":"Kurt Groszhans, Detained In Ukraine Back In North Dakota"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

(AP\/KFGO) \u2014 A North Dakota farmer who had been detained in Ukraine since November 2021 on accusations that he planned to kill his business partner is back home. The state’s two U.S. senators announced his return Friday. Kurt Groszhans, from Ashley, North Dakota, has ancestors from Ukraine and went there to farm in 2017. The relationship with his partner, law professor Roman Leshchenko, crumbled after Groszhans alleged that Leshchenko embezzled money from him. Groszhans and his assistant were arrested in November on charges of plotting to assassinate Leshchenko, who was then Ukraine\u2019s agriculture minister. Groszhans\u2019 supporters insist the allegations are fabricated. Republican U.S. Sens. Kevin Cramer and John Hoeven said they are grateful for Groszhans\u2019 safe return.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

KFGO Reports<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In a statement Groszhans says he is grateful to be home after the horrible ordeal and to celebrate his birthday on North Dakota soil.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI went to Ukraine to build a farming business,\u201d he continued. \u201cI am a strong supporter of the people of Ukraine and the need for the world to back them in their effort to fend off the Russians. But it was my discovery of embezzlement and corruption at the highest levels of the Ukrainian government that prompted them to file false charges against me in an effort to shut me up. The man who was at the center of the embezzlement and who I believe caused my arrest served in President Zelensky\u2019s cabinet.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Groszhans also expressed his disappointment with the U.S. government\u2019s effort to get him released.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe US Government is rightly doing all it can to ensure Ukraine has the tools to fight off the Russians, but that should not have caused them to abandon me. I am an American citizen who was obviously set up on false charges. Billions of dollars in military aid should have been a good enough reason for Ukraine to let me go, but it would have required the US State Department to use the leverage and they did not. The fact they refused to classify me as a wrongful detainee was an unfortunate and politically cowardly act that cost me almost a year of my life,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Groszhans moved to Ukraine in 2017, where his ancestors are from. Once there, he connected with Leshchenko, who offered himself as a native speaker with knowledge of the local farming business and regulatory requirements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Leshchenko resigned suddenly from his government post in March.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Groszhans\u2019 family has repeatedly said the charges against him are false and aimed at silencing his claims of corruption in Ukraine and continued to defend him in the statement released Friday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cKurt was set up on politically motivated criminal charges designed to stifle his public claims that he uncovered fraud and corruption related to a former employee of his agri-business,\u201d the statement released by the family said. \u201cThat former employee embezzled approximately $250,000 from Kurt and used some of the embezzled funds to make contributions to Volodymyr Zelensky\u2019s presidential campaign. After winning, Zelensky appointed the former employee to a cabinet position. Kurt filed two civil suits and spoke about the embezzlement to the media. Shortly after that, Ukraine accused him of trying to kill the cabinet minister \u2013 a case that would have immediately been tossed out of a US court for lack of evidence. Kurt was eventually able to legally depart Ukraine when his bail restrictions allowed.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

North Dakota\u2019s congressional delegation had been working behind the scenes to secure Groszhans\u2019 release. Congressman Kelly Armstrong said he was ecstatic to hear that Groszhans was back in the state.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe can confirm Kurt is safely in North Dakota with his family and friends,\u201d said Senator Kevin Cramer. \u201cLike us, we hope others respect Kurt\u2019s privacy at this time. We welcome Kurt home and are grateful for his safe return.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Previous Story<\/p>\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a>FARGO, N.D. (AP) \u2014 A North Dakota farmer who had been jailed in Ukraine since November has been released from custody, yet still remains in the eastern European country. Sen. John Hoeven sayswork continues in regards to \u201cfair treatment and safety\u201d of Kurt Groszhans, who was arrested on charges he plotted to assassinate Ukraine\u2019s then-agriculture minister, Roman Leschenko. Groszhans\u2019 family has said the charges are false and aimed at silencing his claims of corruption in Ukraine. Groszhans, of Ashley, decided in 2017 to move to Ukraine, where his ancestors are from. His family said he invested a large sum of money to get a farming operation up and running. After connecting with Leshchenko, then a law professor, Groszhans named him director of his company.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

(AP\/KFGO) \u2014 A North Dakota farmer who had been detained in Ukraine since November 2021 on accusations that he planned to kill his business partner is back home. The state’s two U.S. senators announced his return Friday. Kurt Groszhans, from Ashley, North Dakota, has ancestors from Ukraine and went there […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":249303,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[25,35,71],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-249302","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured","category-state","category-worldnews"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/csinewsnow.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/249302","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/csinewsnow.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/csinewsnow.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/csinewsnow.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/csinewsnow.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=249302"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"http:\/\/csinewsnow.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/249302\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":260104,"href":"http:\/\/csinewsnow.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/249302\/revisions\/260104"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/csinewsnow.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/249303"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/csinewsnow.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=249302"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/csinewsnow.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=249302"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/csinewsnow.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=249302"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}