Operation "Themis": businessman and former deputy Astion served with notice of suspicion of corporate raiding and money laundering, - NABU
The National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) and the Specialised Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (SAPO) have expanded the list of suspects in the case involving a criminal organisation that specialised in hostile takeovers, property fraud and the laundering of criminal assets. The suspect in question is an influential businessman – a former member of the Dnipropetrovsk Regional Council of the 7th convocation.
This was reported by NABU, as relayed by Censor.NET.
Raider takeover of two enterprises
As noted, the leaders of the criminal organisation (current and former Members of the Ukrainian Parliament) involved the suspect in unlawful activities in order to exploit his informal connections and influence within the judiciary. In particular, he ensured that judges in commercial courts issued rulings in favour of companies or individuals linked to the criminal organisation.
Thus, with the suspect’s involvement, a hostile takeover of two companies with assets worth 248 million hryvnias took place.
Furthermore, the businessman facilitated the laundering of funds obtained by criminal means, so that they could subsequently be used as bail for one of the members of another criminal organisation (the ‘Midas’ case).
Charges: Part 2 of Article 255, Part 4 of Article 28, Parts 2 and 3 of Article 206-2, Part 4 of Article 28, and Part 3 of Article 209 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine.
What led up to this
It should be recalled that earlier, a prosecutor from the Specialised Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (SAPO) named all the individuals implicated in the NABU operations ‘Forest Gump’ and ‘Themis’. Among them was Vasyl Astion – a businessman and former member of the Dnipropetrovsk Regional Council.
Operation ‘Forrest Gump’
- It was previously reported that NABU and the SAP are conducting a special operation to expose a criminal group involving members of the Verkhovna Rada 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, the 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 thatthe 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.
