Budanov on Mudra case: "Let’s wait and see what court has to say"

The Head of the President’s Office, Kyrylo Budanov, has commented on the ‘Forest Gump’ investigation by the anti-corruption authorities, which involves officials from the President’s Office, including the now former Deputy Head of the President’s Office, Iryna Mudra.

Budanov made these remarks in comments to journalists from "Channel 24", according to Censor.NET.

Budanov’s reaction to the NABU investigation

The Head of the President’s Office called for people to wait for the decision of the High Anti-Corruption Court.

"The response is absolutely straightforward and simple. It’s all, as they say, in the hands of the court. A person who is currently with the President’s Office – my former deputy – has appeared in court; the presiding judge in her case is the President of the High Anti-Corruption Court. In other words, there is no judge higher up in this hierarchy. Let’s wait and see what he has to say," said Budanov.

It should be recalled that the day before, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy commented on the NABU case against Iryna Mudra. He stated that the evidence provided by NABU proved sufficient to dismiss Iryna Mudra from her post as deputy head of the Presidential Office.

Operation ‘Forest Gump’

It was previously reported that the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) and the Specialised Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (SAPO) are conducting a special operation to expose a criminal group involving MPs and senior officials from the Office of the President.
According to media reports, as part of the announced special operation, NABU and the SAP are carrying out searches at the home of Iryna Mudra, deputy head of the Office of the President.
In addition, NABU detectives carried out searches at the home of Hladyshenko, chairman of the supervisory board of "Sens Bank".
Vadym Stolar, a Member of Parliament from the ‘Opposition Platform – For Life’ party, which has been banned by the court, confirmed that NABU and the SAPO are conducting searches at his premises as part of the ‘Forest Gump’ special operation.
NABU later stated that the case involved 150 million hryvnias in cash which, according to the investigation, had been channelled into the legal system via a series of accounts held by front companies to pay bail for one of the defendants in the ‘Midas’ case.
Subsequently, the former deputy head of the Presidential Office, Iryna Mudra, confirmed that her premises were searched on 19 August; she was informed of the charges against her and served with a request for a preventive measure, but was not detained. She is preparing for the court hearing.
On 20 August, the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) released new recordings of conversations involving those implicated in the ‘Forest Gump’ case — the second part of the investigation, entitled ‘Themis’. This concerns a scheme involving the hostile takeover of property and other assets through unauthorised interference with the Ministry of Justice’s information (automated) networks.
On 20 August, a prosecutor from the Specialised Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (SAPO) named all the individuals implicated in NABU’s ‘Forest Gump’ and ‘Themis’ operations.