Following Mindich’s call, Zelenskyy ordered Mudra to "get" Halushchenko out of pre-trial detention centre – Zhelezniak

MP Yaroslav Zhelezniak has published his own account of how he believes events surrounding the posting of bail for former Justice Minister Herman Halushchenko in the "Forrest Gump" case unfolded, including the role President Volodymyr Zelenskyy may have played.

He wrote about this on Facebook, according to Censor.NET.

Zhelezniak’s account

The MP explicitly emphasized that this was merely his supposition, not established fact.

According to him, the hypothetical chain of events may have unfolded as follows: while in a pre-trial detention centre, Halushchenko began threatening to "give everyone up," after which businessman Timur Mindich allegedly called President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and asked him to facilitate the former official’s release.

According to Zhelezniak’s account, the instruction was then passed to Head of the Presidential Office Kyrylo Budanov and from him to his deputy, Iryna Mudra, who was tasked with organizing the process.

The MP suggested that, to transfer the cash, the deputy head of the Presidential Office enlisted a person already implicated in four NABU cases, who in turn approached known participants in cash-conversion schemes.

At the same time, according to him, an attempt may have been underway to seize control of Mindich’s financial flows and the state-owned bank. Zhelezniak suggested that the funds passed through Sense Bank and possibly Oschadbank as well, after which the case was referred to the High Anti-Corruption Court, Halushchenko was released, and NABU subsequently launched an investigation.

"Just a f###ing incredible story for a Guy Ritchie film. Let him make ‘Servant of the People 4: Breaking Bad,’" the MP commented.

Operation "Forrest Gump"

It was previously reported that NABU and the 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 SAPO 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, the chairman of the supervisory board of ‘Sense 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 ‘Forrest 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 ‘Forrest 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 ‘Forrest Gump’ and ‘Themis’ operations.
On 21 August, the High Anti-Corruption Court imposed a preventive measure on former MP Maksym Mykytas in the form of detention, subject to the payment of a 30 million hryvnia bail.
On 25 August, Iryna Mudra was remanded in custody with the option of posting UAH 20 million in bail.

Earlier, the media reported that UAH 105 million of the required UAH 150 million in bail had been posted for Halushchenko.

The case of Herman Halushchenko

Earlier, the media reported that Halushchenko had been detained while attempting to cross the border. Subsequently, NABU confirmed that NABU detectives had detained the former energy minister while he was crossing the state border as part of the "Midas" case.
The media also reported that Halushchenko would be served with a notice of suspicion after being taken to Kyiv.
Halushchenko was informed of the suspicion of laundering over $112 million.
Halushchenko appealed to the High Anti-Corruption Court against his "unlawful detention", but the court remanded him in custody.
On 17 February, the former minister was arrested with the possibility of bail set at 200 million hryvnias.