SAP wants to transfer the bail for Halushchenko in 150 million UAH to ARMA

The Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office is asking to transfer 150 million hryvnias of bail for former Minister of Energy Herman Halushchenko to the management of the Asset Recovery and Management Agency. The sum posted is currently recognized as physical evidence in the "Forrest Gump" operation case, and the prosecution insists it should be protected from devaluation. The prosecutor voiced the corresponding motion in the Appeals Chamber of the High Anti-Corruption Court, and the hearing was ultimately postponed until November.

The SAP's motion was reported by a hromadske correspondent. SAP prosecutor Vitalii Ryballkin explained in court why these funds constitute physical evidence, even though they exist in non-cash form.

"These funds, even though converted to non-cash form, fall under the characteristic of physical evidence. (Currently - ed.) they are arrested on the High Anti-Corruption Court's treasury account," the SAP prosecutor said.

The prosecutor clarified under what conditions the law allows arrested funds to be transferred specifically to ARMA’s management rather than left on the investigative authority’s deposit account.

"What are the grounds for transferring to ARMA? The value criterion — if the funds exceed the threshold amount. ...so as not to lose their value, because inflation quickly 'eats' them, the Criminal Procedure Code provides for transfer to ARMA for management. They buy bonds at 17%. The state will receive these 150 million with the bond and can put them to something useful," Vitalii Ryballkin explained.

The lawyers representing Halushchenko criticized the prosecutor for what they called a "business approach" to the seized funds. A representative of only one of the four LLCs that posted bail for the ex-minister attended the hearing, and Halushchenko himself did not appear in court. At the defense's request for additional time to prepare, the court postponed consideration of the motion until November.

They identified the circle of defendants in the case about laundering the bail

As part of the investigation into the legalization of funds used for Halushchenko's bail, the SAP prosecutor previously named the full list of persons involved in the scheme. Among them are former Deputy Head of the Office of the President Iryna Mudra, current Member of Parliament Vadym Stolar, former MP Maksym Mykytas, and also the heads of the state-owned "Sens Bank" Mykola Hladyshenko and Oleksii Stupak. According to the investigation, 150 million hryvnias of bail for Halushchenko were posted at the end of June, after which he was released from the pre-trial detention center.

Halushchenko held the posts of Minister of Energy and Minister of Justice, and is now a subject of the large-scale "Midas" operation into corruption in the energy sector. He was detained while attempting to leave Ukraine in February, and the court set bail at 150 million hryvnias, which was posted by private firms Pelet Service, Hirant Konstrakt, Tetras Optima, and Skyt Retail. In August NABU announced the "Forrest Gump" operation regarding the origin of those funds — according to the investigation, they were converted from cash obtained illegally into non-cash form and transferred to the court's accounts through a controlled company.

Earlier Informator reported that the High Anti-Corruption Court removed Halushchenko's electronic bracelet while simultaneously extending, for two months, other procedural obligations — a ban on leaving Kyiv without the investigators' permission and the requirement to appear when summoned by detectives. We also wrote that the name of the operation "Forrest Gump" was commented on by serviceman Oleh Symoroz, who called the case defendants "textbook morons" for having dealings with Mykytas.