On August 3, the High Anti-Corruption Court remanded former State Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Oleksandr Bankov into custody with bail set at 10 million hryvnias.
This is reported by Public.
The former official will remain in pretrial detention until September 30.
He is suspected of embezzling international aid for Ukraine at the start of Russia's full-scale invasion.
The consideration of the choice of a preventive measure for Alexander Bankov lasted several court hearings - July 29 and 31.
The prosecutor of the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office petitioned for the former official to be held in pretrial detention with the option of bail of 15 million hryvnias, while the lawyer asked the court for a "more lenient" measure of restraint and called the bail amount "large."
The High Anti-Corruption Court partially granted the prosecution's motion, reducing bail by 5 million hryvnias.
On July 29, the prosecutor read a summary of the charges against Bankov. According to the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine and the SAPO, he formed an organized group with former Foreign Ministry Chief of Staff Ramiz Ramazanov, Vladislav Reznikov, founder of the Center for Assistance to International Cooperation, and an accountant.
According to investigators, the goal was the misappropriation and laundering of charitable funds. Since Bankov could not have founded this NGO due to his then-status as Secretary of State of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, he exercised de facto control over the organization and lobbied for it through a Memorandum of Cooperation with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs—it was the accounts of the Center for Assistance to International Cooperation that were to receive international aid funds.
The prosecutor said the investigation uncovered three instances of the scheme.
Specifically, this involves the misappropriation of deposits from Japan. According to the prosecution, taking advantage of the receipt of over 17,2 million hryvnias in donations into the accounts of the Ukrainian Embassy in Japan, Bankov allegedly initiated a change in reporting procedures and ordered the transfer of funds to an NGO under his control. The group initially received two tranches of $500 each under the guise of aid to the Ukrainian Armed Forces and civilians and converted them entirely into cash.
There are also fraudulent schemes involving the Renew Democracy Initiative (RDI) foundation. According to the prosecutor, having gained the trust of the American organization, Bankov signed grant agreements on behalf of the NGO, citing his position as Secretary of State. According to the investigation, the accomplices hired legitimate service providers but significantly inflated the cost of these services in the documents. Due to fictitious reporting, approximately 8 million hryvnias out of a total grant of $700 were converted into cash.
Subscribe to our channel in X и Telegram channel!
Stay informed about who is doing business, in politics, and supporting corruption in Ukraine!
Moreover, this constitutes money laundering. According to the prosecution, the money was withdrawn in three stages: 3,5 million hryvnias through a controlled company, West Estate; 20 million hryvnias transferred through the accounts of seven individual entrepreneurs to shell companies; and another 13,7 million hryvnias through conversion centers and a chain of four to five limited liability companies (LLCs), with commissions paid for the withdrawals.
As reported, on July 27, NABU and SAPO issued notices of suspicion to members of an organized group led by the former State Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, suspected of embezzling funds from foreign citizens and donors intended to support Ukraine at the beginning of Russia's full-scale invasion.
Skelet.Org
Why was former Foreign Ministry Secretary of State Alexander Bankov arrested?
Subscribe to our channels in Telegram, Facebook, Twitter, VC — Only new faces from the section CRYPT!