Energoatom case: HACC takes fourth suspect into custody

According to Ukrinform, HACC reported this on Facebook.

If bail is posted, the suspect will be required to wear an electronic monitoring device, appear before investigators, detectives, prosecutors, the investigating judge, and the court upon request, and notify the investigator, prosecutor, or court of any change of residence and/or place of work.

The suspect will also have to surrender his passport(s) for travel abroad and other documents granting the right to leave or enter Ukraine to the State Migration Service for safekeeping.

He will be prohibited from leaving Kyiv and Kyiv region without the permission of the investigator, prosecutor, or court, and from communicating with persons specified in the court ruling.

According to Suspilne, the suspect is Ihor Fursenko, the so-called accountant of the back office responsible for money laundering. In audio recordings released by the National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU), he appears under the nickname Rioshyk.

As Ukrinform reported, on November 10 NABU announced a special operation to expose corruption in the energy sector. According to investigators, members of the criminal organization built a large-scale scheme to influence strategic state-owned enterprises, including Energoatom.

The main activity of the criminal organization was systematically receiving unlawful benefits from Energoatom's counterparties. The amount of these illicit payments ranged from 10% to 15% of contract values.

Later, the bureau noted that seven people are suspects in the case: a businessman believed to be the leader of the criminal organization, a former adviser to the Minister of Energy, the executive director for physical protection and security at Energoatom, and four employees of the back office for money laundering. Five of them have been detained so far.

According to the Schemes investigative project, those charged include Tymur Mindich (who appears on the audio recordings of conversations between the case's suspects, released by NABU, under the name "Carlson"), former adviser to the energy minister Ihor Myroniuk ("Rocket"), Energoatom Executive Director for Security Dmytro Basov ("Tenor"), Oleksandr Tsukerman ("Sugarman"), Ihor Fursenko ("Rioshyk"), Lesia Ustymenko, and Liudmyla Zorina.

The court has already chosen a preventive measure for Basov – detention with the option of UAH 40 million bail.

Myroniuk was also placed under arrest with an alternative bail amount of UAH 126 million.

For back-office employee Ustymenko, the court imposed detention with the option of posting UAH 25 million bail.