HACC orders UAH 2 million bail forfeiture in Odesa cemetery case

For the first time in NABU and SAPO's history, the court has collected about UAH 2 million in bail after a defendant failed to appear for an indictment. He is one of the six participants in the corruption scheme to seize UAH 131 million from the Odesa city budget in 2016 – the so-called "Zakhidne cemetery" case.

Not only the defendant did not appear before SAPO but also did not come to the hearing without a valid reason. Therefore, the prosecutors turned to the court with a request for the bail to be forfeited to the state revenue, which the HACC partially granted. The court also ordered a forced appearance of the defendant and fined him.

The prosecution will request that the accused be remanded in custody.

As reported, in January 2022, NABU and SAPO filed an indictment against the Odesa City Council officials involved in causing a UAH 131 million loss to the local budget. In 2016, the Odesa City Council bought from a private company non-residential premises with an area of over 6 thousand sq.m. located on 141 hectares. The land plot was in communal ownership and intended to increase the area of Zakhidne cemetery in Odesa. Allegedly, based on the results of an independent assessment, the price was set at over UAH 146 million. However, the examination conducted by the state specialized expert institution two years after the purchase found that the price was enhanced by more than 10 times (the real value was about UAH 15 million), while the embezzled funds were further legalized through a string of business entities.

Prior to this, the court had already made similar decisions after defendants violated the imposed restrictions, in particular by collecting from a suspect in a customs corruption scheme case half of the bail amount - UAH 35 million, as well as UAH 30 million from a former MP suspected of organizing a scheme to seize National Guard property. Also, a bail in the amount of UAH 525,500 was collected from a convicted ex-official of the Titanium Institute. Another UAH 4.2 million was recovered from a defendant in a case of providing an undue advantage to the head of the State Property Fund of Ukraine.

According to Article 62 of the Constitution of Ukraine, a person is considered non-guilty in the commission of a crime and cannot be subject to criminal punishment until he or she is found guilty by court.