SAPO prosecutor: Tymur Mindich, who is wanted, transferred the money for Halushchenko’s bail

A prosecutor from the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office stated in court that the funds for posting bail for former Energy Minister Herman Halushchenko were transferred by Tymur Mindich, a member of a criminal organization who is in Israel and has been placed on a wanted list.

The statement was made on August 25 at a hearing of the High Anti-Corruption Court, where a preventive measure was being chosen for Sense Bank board chairman Oleksiy Stupak.

According to the prosecutor, between June 9 and June 29, defendants in the Forrest Gump case attempted to organize a scheme to launder funds for posting bail for one of the suspects in a separate criminal proceeding. The prosecutor did not name the suspect, but said the bail in question was 150 million hryvnias, set by the court on June 12 — details that match the circumstances of the case involving former Energy Minister Herman Halushchenko, who is a defendant in the Midas proceeding.

According to the investigation, on June 9, one of the defendants in the Forrest Gump case — former Deputy Head of the Office of the President Iryna Mudra — received a proposal to participate in organizing the laundering of funds to post bail for Halushchenko. The prosecutor stated that the money could have been obtained through criminal means from “a member of a criminal organization who is wanted on the territory of Israel” — that is, Tymur Mindich, whose name was mentioned during the hearing.

In support of his position, the prosecutor quoted former MP Maksym Mykytasy, another defendant in the Forrest Gump case:

“If Mindich is paying, we can post funds for others — smaller-scale corrupt officials — as well.”

Stupak’s lawyer also confirmed that Mindich was indeed the person in question.

“The prosecutor noted that on June 9, Mindich handed cash to Mudra to post bail,” he said during the hearing.

According to the investigation’s version of events, the funds were first transferred to an unidentified person, with the intention of subsequently converting them into non-cash form and transferring them to the account of the High Anti-Corruption Court as bail for Halushchenko. On June 29, the full bail amount — 150 million hryvnias — was posted. The outlet Skhemy reported that the funds were posted by LLC Tetras Optima, LLC Hiran Construct, LLC Skyte Retail, and LLC Pelet Servis.

On August 25, the High Anti-Corruption Court imposed a preventive measure on Mudra in the form of detention or the posting of bail in the amount of 20 million hryvnias. She is a defendant in the NABU anti-corruption operation Forrest Gump, which exposed a criminal group involving senior officials from the Office of the President as well as current and former members of parliament.

Former Energy Minister Halushchenko is named in materials related to a case involving a scheme to launder more than approximately EUR 85.7 million in the energy sector, in which businessman Tymur Mindich is one of the key suspects. According to the investigation, Mindich, with Halushchenko’s assistance, may have exercised control over financial flows in Ukraine’s energy industry.