Kyiv's Pechersky District Court has chosen a measure of restraint in the form of detention for former Minister of Income and Tax of Ukraine Oleksandr Klymenko, suspected of fraud with VAT refunds and seizing state budget funds for a total amount of UAH 3.1 billion, in absentia.

According to the press service of the Prosecutor General's Office of Ukraine (PGO), the court made such a decision on August 19 at the request of the main military prosecutor's office of the PGO.

According to law enforcement agencies, the main military prosecutor's office on April 21, 2017 completed a special pretrial investigation (in absentia) into criminal proceedings on suspecting the former Minister of Income and Tax of Ukraine of criminal offenses under Part 1 of Article 255 (creation of a criminal organization), Part 4 of Article 28, Part 5 of Article 191 (misappropriation of property by abuse of service), Part 4 of Article 28, Part 1 of Article 366 (official forgery), Part 4 of Article 28, Part 2 of Article 205 (fictitious business) of the Criminal Code of Ukraine.

"The specified person is suspected of participation in the committing by a criminal organization of a particularly grave crime against state property, which caused grave consequences in the form of material damage to the state on an especially large scale, and crimes of minor gravity in the field of official activity," the PGO said.