Kaskiv studied investigation materials, his case should be sent to court – PGO chief
Former Head of the State Agency for Investment and National Projects of Ukraine Vladyslav Kaskiv has examined the materials of the pre-trial investigation, and his case should be sent to court, Ukrainian Prosecutor General Yuriy Lutsenko has said.
"If I'm not mistaken, they [NABU] took away 80% of this case in April, and nothing has been done since then until the last moment, although yesterday I saw some activity... And there is no notice of suspicion for Kaskiv there. At the same time, we were left alone with a case for seven million [hryvnias] and as part of this case we found Kaskiv, extradited him to Ukraine, and now we served him a notice of suspicion. And today, if I'm not mistaken, he studied the case materials. The case should be sent to court," Lutsenko said on the HARD program on the ZIK television channel late on Wednesday, December 13.
He noted that the Prosecutor General's Office (PGO) currently accused Kaskiv in the case for only UAH 7 million, whereas the case for UAH 700 million was in the NABU, which makes him anxious.
"He has already transferred these seven million hryvnias to the budget, that is, he compensated for possible losses. He is a person who has recently had his fifth or sixth child born, and he says that he did not contest the decision on his extradition, and these three circumstances, as his defense team things, lead him to a suspended sentence," Lutsenko said.
He expressed hope that the NABU "will do its work faster" and bringing all charges against Kaskiv would change the decision in favor of a real term of imprisonment, rather than a suspended sentence.
As reported, Kaskiv was declared internationally wanted under Part 5, Article 191 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine on charges of "large-scale misappropriation of property by an official through abuse of office and through collusion with a group of persons" and under Part 2 of Article 366 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine on "forgery by an official." He is suspected of entering into a criminal conspiracy in 2012 with other persons to embezzle the means of the state budget of Ukraine in the amount of about UAH 7.5 million.
On September 8, 2016, the Ukrainian Prosecutor General's Office received confirmation from Interpol that Kaskiv had been arrested in Panama. On September 12, a court in Panama granted Kaskiv a $600,000 bail, after which he applied for political asylum.
On November 1, Prosecutor General Yuriy Lutsenko said that Kaskiv had been extradited from Panama to Ukraine and taken to the Main Investigation Department of the Prosecutor General's Office.
On the same day the Pechersky District Court of Kyiv decided to remand Kaskiv into pretrial custody for two months and set bail at UAH 160,000. The court also ordered Kaskiv to turn in all passports and to be available to investigators, as well as to inform them of his whereabouts.