MOSCOW, September 2 (RAPSI) – A court in Moscow has granted a request which was filed by investigators seeking to seize property belonging to Ukrainian billionaire and warlord Ihor Kolomoisky implicated in a criminal case and arrested in absentia, Investigative Committee spokesman Vladimir Markin told journalists on Tuesday.

A business center owned by Elite Holding, a company co-founded by Kolomoisky, was placed under restraint while the company was barred from running the building, acording to Markin.

"Kolomoisky could be using lease revenue to finance criminal operations in southeast Ukraine,” he said, adding that searches were conducted at the premises and documents linked to the criminal case seized.

The Investigative Committee is looking for other assets Kolomoisky may own in Russia, including in Crimea, and which may be seized, Markin said.

A criminal case has been opened in Russia against Kolomoisky and Ukrainian Interior Minister Arsen Avakov under Russian articles on “the masterminding of murder, the use of prohibited methods and means of warfare, abduction, and the hindering of the legitimate activities of journalists.”

In July, the Investigative Committee accused Kolomoisky of sponsoring Ukrainian armed groups and committing crimes against civilians amid the ongoing conflict in the the south-east regions of Ukraine.

Moscow’s Basmanny District Court ordered the arrest of Kolomoisky in absentia on July 2. The hearing was held behind closed doors.

The UN human rights office presented last week a report on the ongoing crisis in Ukraine urging authorities of the country to immediately carry out investigation into the alleged gross violations of human rights and international law.

The report presents a wide array of human rights abuses allegedly committed both by Ukrainian government forces and separatists in southeastern regions of the country where at least 36 people are being killed every day.