On January 22, the Pecherskyi District Court imposed a pre-trial restriction on Roman Hrynkevych, who was hiding from the investigation in Odesa. He will be held in custody until March 17, 2024, but may be released on bail of 500 million hryvnias ($13.2 million). Hrynkevych wants to appeal the ruling, reported a Slidstvo.Info correspondent from the courtroom.
The Pecherskyi District Court imposed a pre-trial restraint on Roman Hrynkevych, who may be involved in the embezzlement of budget funds for the supply of clothing to the military. Roman Hrynkevych will be held in custody for 60 days with the possibility of posting 500 million ($13.2 million) bail. Hrynkevych claims he does not plan to post bail and will remain in custody.
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- Roman Hrynkevych in the courtroom
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- Roman Hrynkevych in the courtroom
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- Roman Hrynkevych in the courtroom
Prosecutors noted that the amount was appropriate because Hrynkevych has a lot of property: “The amount is related to the fact that Hrynkevych has a lot of real and personal property. This bail should deter him from influencing witnesses and any other obstacles to the collection and processing of evidence of the alleged crime.”
Lawyer Andriy Hudzhal asserts that the criminal offenses attributed to Hrynkevych fall outside the jurisdiction of the State Bureau of Investigation. He argues the police, not the Bureau, have proper authority over this case. In Hudzhal’s view, “both the indictment and the pre-trial investigation were therefore conducted by persons not legally empowered to do so.”
Lawyer Andriy Hudzhal
The lawyer says that Hrynkevych was not in hiding and was going to go to Kyiv today to file a statement.
Hrynkevych’s defense lawyer argues that “setting bail at 500 million hryvnias is tantamount to pre-trial detention…The available case materials provide no indication my client possesses property valued at 500 million hryvnias. To date, all assets have been subject to seizure”.
Hrynkevych says that the charges regarding the quality of the goods make no sense whatsoever to him: “As for the quality of the goods, it is hilarious. At least 15 employees of the Armed Forces, the Ministry of Defense, and other specialized agencies were involved in accepting one unit of goods. The goods are handed over in accordance with the approved sample standard. Accusations concerning goods quality are at the very least incomprehensible to me.”
According to the prosecution, Roman Hrynkevych crossed the border 11 times in 2022-2023: “During this period, he traveled 11 times using the Shlyakh system. Therefore, this refutes the fact that he cannot travel abroad. He used it repeatedly.”
In conclusion, Hrynkevych noted that he was going to defend his case and would not flee: “As for me, this is pure discredit. And the facts that are cited, I believe, have no force. Especially since the Prosecutor General’s Office claims that I was allegedly going to cross the border… I am not going to leave the country, I will defend my honor and my rightness. Because everything that is happening here now is a farce or someone’s order.”
Law enforcement officials noted that Roman Hrynkevych left for Odesa on January 17 and was detained on January 22 under a court order. According to the SBI, Roman Hrynkevych was trying to arrange an illegal crossing of the state border of Ukraine in order to hide from Ukrainian law enforcement agencies in one of the EU countries.
According to law enforcement officers, Roman Hrynkevych is involved in a criminal organization for the misappropriation of budget funds. Investigators believe that Roman Hrynkevych’s father, Ihor, entered into contracts with the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine for the supply of military clothing, but failed to fulfill some of the contracts or performed them poorly, causing damage to the state in excess of 934 million hryvnias ($24.7 million).
Law enforcement officers found complete non-fulfillment of six contracts. Under at least seven contracts, the companies supplied goods to military units only in small quantities, but received state funds for complete fulfillment of obligations. It was also established that eight contracts were executed with a delay of three to five months.
As part of the criminal proceedings, five people were charged with misappropriation of property by breach of trust (fraud) committed under martial law by a criminal organization on a particularly large scale.
On the night of January 19, the Pecherskyi District Court of Kyiv imposed a pre-trial restraint on three suspects in the case. They will be held in custody for 60 days with the possibility of posting 500 million hryvnia ($13.2 million) bail.
The fourth suspect, Ihor Hrynkevych, has been in custody with the possibility of posting almost 430 million hryvnias ($11.4 million) in bail since December 30, 2023. He was then charged with offering a bribe to an SBI employee. According to law enforcement officers, Ihor Hrynkevych offered $500,000 to an SBI officer to return control over property seized in one of the open proceedings.
Roman Hrynkevych was the last suspect in the case.
The SBI says it is also continuing to identify the full range of people involved in the criminal offense, including checking information on officials of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine.
