Supply of faulty machine guns: Former Defense Ministry official Liiev arrested without bail
On January 22, the Oktiabrskyi District Court of Poltava imposed a pre-trial restraint on former official of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine Oleksandr Liiev. He was taken into custody for 52 days.
This was reported by Censor.NET with reference to Suspilne.
According to the correspondent, he is suspected of embezzling public funds. Oleksandr Liiev will stay in the pre-trial detention center until March 14 this year. He may be released on bail of over UAH 9 million.
The hearing in the case of Oleksandr Liiev was postponed twice due to the absence of the prosecutor.
"The case concerns the supply of machine guns for the Armed Forces of Ukraine. In fact, some of the machine guns were not delivered on time, and the money for these machine guns was returned. Half of the machine guns were delivered. And, according to the prosecution, during either testing or use, significant deficiencies were found in a certain number of those machine guns. And, accordingly, such actions of Oleksandr Liiev, in the opinion of the prosecutor, fall under Article 191 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine - embezzlement of public funds, or Article 114, subpara 1 - obstruction of the Armed Forces of Ukraine," Oleksandr Liiev's lawyer, Nazar Kulchytskyi, told Suspilne during the meeting on January 20.
The consideration of the prosecutor's motion to impose a preventive measure on Oleksandr Liiev was closed to journalists. The representative of the Prosecutor General's Office refused to comment to Suspilne.
"The motion is granted, the suspect Oleksandr Liiev, born on 16.05.1976, is to be held in custody for 52 days until 1:00 p.m. on March 14, 2025, with bail set at UAH 9 million 84 thousand, " said Judge Olena Shevska.
"I appeared in court three times, 20 minutes before the court date. The prosecutor did not appear twice, and now to say that I can hide from the investigation is just absurd. Machine guns were purchased and paid for in March 2022. I did not work in the department then. In May, they arrived, I was not working in the department then. In August, I was appointed head of the department. As soon as the supplier delivered them, it was my time in the department when I had to receive them. The military unit where I work is staffed by gunsmiths, they check the quality, completeness, draw up a form, and on the basis of this form, signed by all these military men, I signed the acceptance certificate, " said the suspect Oleksandr Liiev.
According to Oleksandr Liiev's lawyer Nazar Kulchytskyi, they plan to file an appeal against the court ruling.
"We want to familiarize ourselves with the text of the ruling first. We will fight this suspicion, that is, collect evidence and prove our client's innocence. We will try to find money for bail," said Nazar Kulchytskyi.
On January 14, the State Bureau of Investigation served a notice of suspicion to the former director of a department of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine and two heads of a state-owned enterprise who supplied 200 faulty large-caliber machine guns to combat units.
