Odesa Mayor Trukhanov taken into custody
The relevant statement was made by the Special Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office on Telegram, Ukrinform reports.
"The case of the Odesa "Krayan" - the mayor of Odesa has been taken into custody. Details later," the statement said.
On Thursday, May 4, the High Anti-Corruption Court of Ukraine ruled to arrest Trukhanov with the possibility of bail of UAH 13 million.
"The High Anti-Corruption Court imposed on the mayor of Odesa a pre-trial restriction in the form of detention with the possibility to pay UAH 13 million 420 thousand bail," the court's spokeswoman Olesya Chemeris said in a comment to Ukrinform.
She added that the mayor of Odesa was taken into custody in the courtroom.
The bail must be posted within five business days.
In case of paying bail, the court imposed a number of obligations on him: not to leave his place of residence, to appear to the investigator, to hand over passports for traveling abroad and to wear an electronic monitoring device.
As reported, according to the NABU, in 2016, Odesa Mayor Trukhanov, together with other officials of the Odesa City Hall and representatives of a private company, seized funds from the local budget of Odesa in the amount of UAH 92 million.
In December 2016, NABU detectives and SAPO prosecutors initiated the seizure of these funds, which were transferred to the account of Development Elite LLC. On January 24, 2020, Trukhanov and his accomplices were notified of suspicion.
In total, the NABU and the SAPO prosecuted 12 people in the Krayan plant case, 8 of whom are currently being heard by the Higher Anti-Corruption Court. The case against one of the scheme participants was closed due to her death.
In October 2018, the Malynovskyi District Court of Odesa sent an indictment against eight people involved in the scheme, including Hennadii Trukhanov. The court eventually acquitted all the defendants in the case.
In February 2021, the HACC Appeals Chamber overturned the acquittal of the Malynovskyi Court of Odesa, but the HACC was unable to start the case. According to the Anti-Corruption Action Center, about 35 court hearings have been scheduled in the case over the past two years, but even the preparatory hearing has not been held.
On April 25, the High Anti-Corruption Court finally held a hearing and changed the measure of restraint for Odesa Mayor Hennadii Trukhanov from a personal commitment to bail of UAH 30 million 866 thousand. This refers to the Krayan case.
