Oligarch Kolomoiskyi once again fails to appeal his detention
The Court of Appeal upheld the preventive measure towards oligarch Ihor Kolomoiskyi – he will remain in custody with an alternative of making bail of UAH 3.89 billion (about US$108.3 million).
Source: Hromadske from the courtroom
Details: During the hearing, Kolomoiskyi’s lawyers stated that they considered the preventive measure decided by the court previously to be illegal and unreasonable, and asked to cancel the detention.
The defence also argued that Kolomoiskyi "does not have the ability to even theoretically" make such bail. They also said that the preventive measure is "incompatible with his state of health", listing the businessman’s chronic illnesses.
Наша журналістка у залі Київського апеляційного суду, де розглядають апеляцію адвокатів Ігоря Коломойського. Його захисники просять скасувати збільшення йому застави pic.twitter.com/lbkMG4dCZE
— hromadske (@HromadskeUA) October 6, 2023
Despite this, prosecutors opposed the appeal.
The prosecutor suggested that if released, Kolomoiskyi might hide in Israel or Cyprus, because he is a citizen of these countries. In the prosecutor’s opinion, the risk of this escalated after the notice of suspicion was updated and the amount of money involved in the alleged fraudulent actions was increased. In addition, Cyprus may refuse to extradite the oligarch if he applies for international legal assistance. The prosecutor also spoke about the risk of Kolomoiskyi influencing witnesses.
Background:
- On 25 September, The Kyiv Court of Appeal ruled that the pretrial restriction for oligarch Ihor Kolomoiskyi would remain unchanged: custody and UAH 3.89 billion (US$108.3 million) bail. 1+1 TV presenters Nataliia Moseichuk, Alla Mazur and Yurii Horbunov, as well as former Culture Minister Oleksandr Tkachenko, said that they are prepared to bail Kolomoiskyi out.
- On 2 September, the Security Service of Ukraine (SSU), the Bureau of Economic Security and the Prosecutor General's Office served oligarch Ihor Kolomoiskyi with a notice of suspicion under Articles 190 and 209 of the Criminal Code: fraud and legalisation (laundering) of the proceeds of crime. Subsequently, Kolomoiskyi received two more notices of suspicion concerning the withdrawal of a total of UAH 15 billion (approx. US$406 million) from PrivatBank.
- Kyiv’s Shevchenkivskyi District Court remanded Kolomoiskyi in custody for 60 days with the option of bail of nearly UAH 510 million (US$13.3 million). The bail was subsequently increased to UAH 3.89 billion (US$101.5 million).
- On 8 September, the National Anti-Corruption Bureau and the Specialist Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office seized Kolomoiskyi's assets and property for two days.
- On 21 September, High Anti-Corruption Court judge Oleh Tkachenko refused to allow prosecutors from the Specialised Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office to seize Kolomoiskyi’s assets.
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