Court jails Yermak pending trial as Ukraine graft case shakes Zelenskyy’s circle
Former head of the President’s Office Andriy Yermak is suspected of money laundering in the construction of Dynasty near Kyiv. (Photo: Serhii Okunev / NV)
Ukraine’s High Anti-Corruption Court ordered former
presidential chief of staff Andriy Yermak jailed pending trial, with bail set
at 140 million hryvnias ($3.6 million), on May 14, according to a livestream of the
hearing.
The Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office said that if Yermak posts bail, he will
be barred from leaving Kyiv without court approval, required to surrender his
passports for foreign travel, report to detectives and the court, and wear an
electronic monitoring bracelet.
Yermak was taken into custody in the courtroom after the
ruling.
The Anti-Corruption Action Center said the former presidential chief
of staff was also barred from communicating with Oleksii Chernyshov, Tymur
Mindich and several other figures in the case.
After the hearing, Yermak said he would appeal the court’s
custody ruling. He said he did not have 140 million hryvnias but had “many
friends and acquaintances” and would try to raise the money.
Yermak again denied the allegations, saying the proceedings
“took place under pressure.”
Prosecutors had asked the court to detain Yermak with bail
set at 180 million hryvnias ($4.6 million).
On May 13, after two days of hearings on prosecutors’
request for a custody order, the High Anti-Corruption Court said it would
announce its decision on May 14.
On May 11, NABU and SAPO served former presidential chief of
staff Andriy Yermak with a notice of suspicion. The anti-corruption agencies
said they had uncovered an organized group involved in laundering 460 million
hryvnias ($11.7 million) “through elite construction near Kyiv” — a reference
to the Dynasty cooperative.
The allegations fall under Part 3 of Article 209 of
Ukraine’s Criminal Code — legalization, or laundering, of proceeds obtained
through crime by an organized group or on an especially large scale. If
convicted, Yermak faces eight to 12 years in prison.
Yermak denied owning a house in the Dynasty cooperative. He
said he owns only “one apartment and a car.” His lawyer called the allegations
“baseless.”
A court hearing on Yermak’s pretrial custody began on May
12. On May 13, the hearing continued partly behind closed doors.
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