Former Ukrainian presidential official detained in major corruption probe
A Ukrainian court has ordered a former deputy head of the Presidential Office into pretrial detention in a major corruption investigation, with the option of posting 20 million hryvnias ($445,000) bail.
Iryna Mudra, who was dismissed from the Presidential Office on Aug. 19 after being named a suspect by Ukraine’s National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU), will remain in custody for up to 60 days unless bail is posted, the High Anti-Corruption Court ruled on Aug. 25.
The case is part of a NABU investigation code-named “Forest Gump.” Investigators allege that members of a criminal group sought to gain control over state-owned Sense Bank and use it for private interests, including to provide bail money of allegedly criminal origin in another high-profile corruption case.
Investigators have also released recordings of conversations involving a woman they identify as a deputy head of the Presidential Office. According to NABU, the conversations included discussions about placing loyal people in anti-corruption and other law enforcement agencies, as well as a need to “systematize and control corruption rather than fight it.”
Prosecutors also allege that Mudra received $4 million from businessman Maksym Mykytas. Mudra denied receiving the money in cash, through a bank account or in any other form, and said the case contained no evidence that the funds had actually been transferred to her.
Prosecutors had asked the court to set bail at 150 million hryvnias ($3.3 million), while Mudra’s lawyers opposed detention. The court ultimately set bail at 20 million hryvnias.
NABU and the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (SAPO) are Ukraine’s key independent institutions tasked with investigating and prosecuting high-level corruption.