Poltava Mayor Mamai sentenced to five years of suspended imprisonment
Oleksandr Mamai (Photo:Oleksandr Mamai /Facebook)
Ukraine’s High Anti-Corruption Court (HACC) has ruled to grant a plea deal to Poltava Mayor Oleksandr Mamai, the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (SAPO) reported via Facebook on March 2.
The court found Mamai guilty of embezzlement of state property and falsifying official documents, resulting in the local budget suffered losses of more than UAH 570,000 ($15,587).
According to the investigation, the mayor conspired with employees of the Institute of City Development and employed two people who actually did not work there, but rather for the mayor and his close entourage. In order to pay their salaries, the organization entered inaccurate data in their internal paperwork.
SAPO noted that the mayor had compensated the financial damage he has done, admitted his guilt, and sincerely repents. Therefore, the court sentenced him to five years of imprisonment with a ban from holding certain positions for one year, and suspended his sentence with a probationary period of one year.
“According to the agreement, the mayor undertakes to transfer UAH 2 million ($54,692) to the United24 Fund for the Army of Drones joint project of Ukraine’s General Staff, the State Special Communications Service and the Ministry of Digital Transformation,” the prosecutors said.
Other defendants in the case, namely two executors and two accomplices in embezzlement, also pled guilty and signed an agreement with the prosecutor. They received five years of imprisonment with a probationary period of one year. The verdict can be appealed in the HACC’s Chamber of Appeals within 30 days.
Meanwhile, the Anti-Corruption Action Center wrote on Telegram that if the appeal does not overturn the sentence, Mamai will lose his mayoral post before his term expires.
On Dec. 29, 2022, Poltava Mayor Mamai was charged with unauthorized disclosure of information about the Ukraine’s Armed Forces and weapons sent to Ukraine by Kyiv’s international partners.
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