Viktor Shokin made the claims in an interview on Fox News (Image: FOX NEWS)
A former Prosecutor of Ukraine investigating a Ukrainian gas company that had Hunter Biden on its board has alleged Joe Biden and his son accepted bribes in exchange for his sacking and that attempts have been made on his life.
Viktor Shokin, 70, made the sensational claims to Brian Kilmeade on Saturday’s ‘One Nation’ programme on Fox News which saw him also allege he was twice poisoned by those trying to keep their actions quiet.
Referring to the natural gas firm he had been investigating when he was sacked as a prosecutor by Ukraine’s then-president in 2016, he claimed in an interview translated from Russian: “I have no doubt that there were illegal activities engaged in by Burisma.
“As a matter of fact,’ he added, ‘the criminal case had been started before me.”
The White House has maintained Burisma was corrupt and that Shokin’s firing was a result of not addressing such corruption, while strenuously denying the claims and attacking Fox for giving a “platform to lies” by airing the interview.
For all the latest on news, politics, sports, and showbiz from the USA, go to Daily Express US
READ MORE: Superpowers US and China on brink of meltdown – and UK will be next to crash
Hunter Biden and his father, US president Joe Biden (Image: GETTY)
Shokin has claimed the corruption lies with Joe Biden and Hunter Biden, alleging the latter was appointed to the gas company’s board in 2013 to “provide protection” for its CEO, from his own probes into their alleged bribery, according to MailOnline.
He had served as the country’s general prosecutor from 2015-16 and Hunter had been brought onto Burisma’s staff as an attorney in 2013 before the US president’s second son became a board member the following year.
During that period, Hunter’s business partner Devon Archer joined the Burisma board and days later, British officials seized $23million from the London bank accounts of Burisma’s founder and CEO, Mykola Zlochevsky. Hunter then also became a board member.
The former prosecutor claimed it was around this time that “[his criminal case] continued to expand, and Zlochevsky, who at the time held the post of minister and was the founder and CEO of Burisma, started bringing in people who could provide protection for him.”
He told Kilmeade: “So, yes, to answer your question, there was no doubt in my mind that Burisma was engaged in illegal activities.”
Former Prosecutor General of Ukraine, Viktor Shokin (Image: GETTY)
He told Kilmeade: “So, yes, to answer your question, there was no doubt in my mind that Burisma was engaged in illegal activities.”
Burisma had been accused of evading up to $63 million of taxes during Hunter’s tenure on the company’s board.
Shokin claimed if he had been able to continue with his investigation unhindered by external influences, he would have uncovered a scheme involving both the Bidens and Archer as well.
Last month, Archer had testified in a closed-door House Oversight Committee hearing, claiming company leaders turned to Hunter for help amid pressure from the former prosecutor’s office while it was looking into the activities of Burisma.
Shokin claimed that saw him sacked by then-Ukrainian president Petro Poroshenko in March 2016.
US president Joe Biden’s son, Hunter Biden (Image: AP)
He told Kilmeade: “Had I continued to oversee the Burisma investigation, we would have found the facts about the corrupt activities that they were engaging in. That included both Hunter Biden and Devon Archer and others.”
The prosecutor also said of the allegations against the Bidens: “I do not want to deal in unproven facts, but my firm personal conviction is that, yes, this was the case. They were being bribed.”
He also cited a billion-dollar payout in US aid to Ukraine that Biden allegedly threatened to withhold until Shokin was fired, the former prosecutor alleged: “And the fact that Joe Biden gave away $1 billion in US money in exchange for my dismissal, my firing isn’t that alone a case of corruption?”
But in a bizarre twist in the controversial interview, he then alleged there have been attempts on his life because of his probe into the supposed corruption – although he provided no evidence to back up his claim.
The former prosecutor claimed: “The damage has been done. Definitely. I have long been concerned about my personal safety and security. I’ve already died technically, twice, as I was poisoned with Mercury.”
Hunter and Archer joined the Burisma board in 2014 with a salary of $1 million per year.
Devon Archer, Hunter Biden’s former business partner (Image: AP)
The company’s owner Zlochevsky was under investigation by Ukrainian, US and UK authorities at the time for allegedly corruptly obtaining gas licenses and claims of fraud.
In testimony to Congress earlier this month, Archer claimed the Burisma owner and his executive Vadym Pozharskyi “placed constant pressure” on Hunter to get help from “Washington DC” to deal with Shokin’s probe.
He said during an interview with Tucker Carlson: “Shokin was considered a threat to the business. He was taking a close look at Burisma. He was a threat. He ended up seizing assets of [Zlochevsky].”
The White House meanwhile has strenuously denied the claims, lashing out at Fox for airing the interview and providing a “platform of lies”.
White House spokesperson Ian Sams said: “For years, these false claims have been debunked, and no matter how much air time Fox gives them, they will remain false.
“Fox is giving a platform for these lies to a former Ukrainian prosecutor general whose office his own deputy called ‘a hotbed of corruption’, drawing demands for reform not only from then-Vice President Biden but also from US diplomats, international partners, and Republican Senators like Ron Johnson.”
Follow our social media accounts here on facebook.com/ExpressUSNews and @expressusnews
