Mudra and Stolar in trap: Why can’t they post bail in top-corruption cases? / Uncensored. VIDEO

Having the money for bail is only half the battle. The bank must still process the payment. According to ZN.UA, Iryna Mudra and Vadym Stolar encountered bank refusals.

Journalist Maryna Danyliuk-Yarmolaieva examines the story of blocked bail payments, the banks’ explanations, and the National Bank of Ukraine’s position. Where does source-of-funds verification end and possible manual intervention begin and what questions does this case raise for financial monitoring?

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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 shell 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 remanded Dubovyk, an official from the Office of the President, in custody with bail set at 7 million hryvnias.
• On 26 August, the full amount of the bail was paid on Dubovyk’s behalf.
• On 21 August, the High Anti-Corruption Court imposed a preventive measure on former MP Maksym Mykytas in the form of detention, with the option of posting bail of 30 million hryvnias.
• On 25 August, Iryna Mudra was remanded in custody with the option of posting bail of 20 million hryvnias.
• On September 1, the HACC Appeals Chamber upheld the preventive measure imposed on Mykytas. The preventive measure imposed on Viktor Dubovyk was also upheld.
• On 11 September, Vadym Stolar was placed under a preventive measure of UAH 300 million bail.

Author: Ольга Кошарна