The Appeals Chamber of Ukraine's High Anti-Corruption Court (HACC Appeals Chamber) upheld the UAH 7 million bail set for former chairman of the supervisory board of state-owned Sense Bank Mykola Hladyshenko, the Anti-Corruption Action Centre (AntAC) reported.
The defense had asked the court to overturn the investigating judge's ruling and reject the detective's motion to impose a preventive measure, while a prosecutor from the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office (SAPO) objected to the appeals being granted.
The defense argued, among other things, that during the period of the actions Hladyshenko is accused of committing, he had recused himself from his duties as chairman of Sense Bank's supervisory board.
The SAPO prosecutor, for his part, noted that during a meeting between Hladyshenko and another suspect, Valentyn Yelizarov, at which the posting of bail for former Energy Minister Herman Halushchenko was discussed, the case materials recorded a reference to "pounds." In the prosecutor's view, this indicates that Hladyshenko was aware of the matter.
According to AntAC, as of September 25, the UAH 7 million bail set for Hladyshenko had not been posted.
As reported, on September 8 the HACC imposed a preventive measure on Hladyshenko in the form of UAH 7 million bail. He was required to post it within five days; otherwise, the prosecutor could ask the court to impose a more stringent preventive measure.
The court also ordered Hladyshenko not to leave Kyiv, to surrender his passports for travel abroad for safekeeping, to refrain from communicating with individuals involved in the criminal proceedings, and not to visit the premises of Sense Bank, the National Bank of Ukraine and the State Financial Monitoring Service of Ukraine.
The prosecution had asked the court to remand Hladyshenko in custody with the possibility of posting UAH 20 million in bail. According to the prosecutor's version, Hladyshenko, acting on behalf of Sense Bank, controlled the process to ensure that there were no obstacles to posting bail for Halushchenko and involved the bank's financial monitoring department director, Liudmyla Snihur, in this.
As part of the NABU and SAPO "Forrest Gump" operation, law enforcement authorities are investigating the circumstances surrounding the posting of UAH 150 million in bail for Halushchenko. Sense Bank appears in the investigation materials, with some of the relevant transactions conducted through its accounts.
On September 2, the HACC imposed a preventive measure of UAH 15 million bail on Sense Bank Chairman of the Management Board Oleksiy Stupak, and on September 4 it imposed UAH 3 million bail on Snihur.
