The Shevchenkivsky District Court of Kyiv has chosen the custody status for ex-head of Ukrbud Maksym Mykytas suspected of ordering the kidnapping of a lawyer in Kyiv as mandatory two-month detention.

The court issued the ruling on Thursday, December 31, after hearing a motion against Mykytas for changing his custody status.

Thus, the court granted the prosecution's motion.

As reported, on December 8, a group of persons kidnapped an employee of a law firm in Kyiv that provided legal assistance to the head of a well-known house development firm. The attackers lured the victim under the pretext of a meeting. After the abduction they demanded that he returned a non-existent debt and forced him to sign a receipt for $800,000 given of the head of the house development company. Subsequently, they seized two mobile phones, money and a car ID card of the victim. A source in law enforcement agencies told Interfax-Ukraine that the developer, in whose favor the receipt was signed, is ex-MP Mykytas.

Mykytas until this time was under house arrest at night. He is suspected of perpetrating a fraud with housing intended for the National Guard, which incurred a loss of UAH 81.635 million. He was informed on October 2, 2019 that he will be prosecuted, and on December 3, 2020 Mykytas entered a plea agreement, after which his custody status was changed to the round-the-clock house arrest.