Iryna Mudra, former deputy head of the Presidential Office suspected of involvement in corruption schemes involving money laundering and raiding, says her private conversations with someone she trusted were used to construct the impression of an alleged criminal role on her part, and insists she has no intention of evading the investigation or fleeing Ukraine.
"Ukraine is my home, this is where — it sounds funny, but this is where my professional reputation is, my life, my responsibility and my family. I have no intention of fleeing from any of this," Mudra said, speaking Tuesday morning at a High Anti-Corruption Court (HACC) hearing on setting a preventive measure for her.
"I am suspected of seizing someone else's property. But everything I did over these years was returning property to the state," she added.
According to Mudra, her numerous trips abroad were part of her official state work. She said she last crossed the border on Aug 14, and claims she could have simply not returned if she had felt any guilt.
"Of the 237 conversations included in this case, 232 were recorded through the microphone of one person. This person was close to me, I trusted them, and the whole time they spoke with me, they were recording me," Mudra said, apparently referring to another defendant in the case — former MP Maksym Mykytas.
During her remarks, Mudra struggled to hold back emotion, drank water to compose herself, and apologized for becoming emotional.
"I ask the court not to equate private emotion with the presence of criminal intent," she said, adding: "I understand the public resonance… My private conversations… were used to construct my criminal role. These are ordinary private, so-called 'kitchen conversations.'"
According to Mudra, her son is eight years old and they live together in Kyiv region. She therefore asked the court to choose a preventive measure that would allow her to remain with her child.
In closing, Mudra asked the court to reject the prosecutor's motion for a preventive measure, arguing it is unfounded, as is the suspicion itself. She said that if the court does find grounds for the suspicion to be justified, she is asking for a preventive measure not involving detention.
Mudra insisted she never gave instructions to forge documents or interfere with state registries. "Fragments of private conversations were released… selectively," she said, adding that information about her alleged corrupt actions, released by anti-corruption bodies, had been used by Russian propaganda for its own narratives.
The suspect also told the court about her career in banking, in public service at the Ministry of Justice, and at the Presidential Office. Mudra highlighted her achievements on the international stage in the legal field, including in the process of establishing the Special Tribunal for the Crime of Aggression, the Register of Damage, and the ratification of the Rome Statute.
As previously reported, the prosecutor had earlier justified the UAH 150 million bail sum, which the prosecution is seeking as an alternative to detention, by citing the suspect's total assets of around UAH 250 million.
Chief Rabbi of Kyiv Jonathan Benjamin Markovitch told the hearing he was willing to vouch for the suspect, saying he believes she would not let down either the religious community or the state.
The suspect's defense, for its part, called on the HACC and media representatives to take a critical view of the statements made by the prosecutor in justifying the need for a preventive measure.
In addition, Mudra's lawyers asked the court to review the body of material from covert investigative actions, which they say shows that Mudra was under pressure from another defendant in the case — former MP Maksym Mykytas.
On Aug 19, NABU and SAPO released a video regarding a special operation called "Forrest Gump": individuals who legalized UAH 150 million to pay bail for a defendant in the "Midas" case were exposed and notified of suspicion. The group included, among others, a deputy head of the Presidential Office of Ukraine and a former MP.
Later that same day, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy signed a decree dismissing Iryna Mudra from her post as deputy head of the Presidential Office.
On Thursday, Aug 20, NABU and SAPO released a second video concerning corruption by the same senior officials, titled "Femida," exposing the illegal seizure of real estate and company assets through document forgery. The former deputy head of the Presidential Office also features in this episode.
In the recorded conversations, the defendants, among other things, complain about being unable to obtain information from NABU and SAPO, while information can be obtained from the National Police, the SBU and the SBI. They also discuss how the anti-corruption system could be controlled.
Later on Aug 20, NABU and SAPO commented on the previously released videos titled "Forrest Gump" and "Femida," concerning the exposure of corruption schemes involving senior officials of the Presidential Office and a former and a sitting MP.
"The activities of the criminal organization were aimed, among other things, at seizing high-value real estate as well as other assets of legal entities through unauthorized interference in the information (automated) networks of the Ministry of Justice of Ukraine, and the forgery of court rulings and title documents," NABU said in a statement on its Telegram channel on Thursday.
According to the statement, in the fall of 2025 members of the criminal organization carried out a raider seizure of two companies whose assets were valued at UAH 248 million. "At the same time, the goal of seizing one of these companies was to gain control over real estate in central Kyiv worth more than UAH 500 million," NABU said.
In addition, according to the statement, in May 2026 members of the criminal organization attempted to seize real estate in Kyiv worth more than UAH 207 million but "were unable to complete the crime due to circumstances beyond their control."
NABU also said that certain members of the criminal organization, in collusion with representatives and officials of a state-owned bank, organized and carried out the legalization of criminally obtained funds during June 2026.
"This concerns UAH 150 million in cash, which was moved through a number of accounts belonging to shell companies and brought into legal circulation to pay bail for a member of another criminal organization (the 'Midas' case)," the statement said.
"Based on the evidence obtained, NABU detectives and SAPO prosecutors have notified members of the criminal organization and the individuals they recruited of suspicion under Articles 255, 191, 206-2, 209, 358 and 361 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine," SAPO said in its statement.
On Aug 21, the HACC set a preventive measure for Mykytas of detention with a bail alternative of UAH 30 million. He is a defendant in the schemes disclosed in the videos.
