Odessa Mayor Gennady Trukhanov was arrested for 60 days with the alternative of posting bail in the amount of 13.42 million hryvnias (28.58 million rubles). This was reported by the Telegram channel of the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (SAP) of Ukraine.
The report says the SAP asked the High Anti-Corruption Court (VAKS) of Ukraine to detain Trukhanov because he failed to pay 30.8 million hryvnia as bail, which the court had previously determined for him.
On May 4, the VAKS panel of judges granted the prosecutor’s request. Trukhanov was taken into custody in the courtroom.
“The mayor of Odessa and other persons are accused of embezzlement of budget funds in the amount of more than 92 million hryvnias as a result of the implementation of a plan to acquire the premises of the administrative building of the former Krayan factory in communal ownership at a price doubled price”, recalls SAP.
April 25 WACS amended Trukhanov a restraint order from a personal bond of surety in the amount of more than 30 million hryvnia. He had to pay the amount within five days.
Trukhanov case
In the 2000s, the Krayan Plant, created on the basis of the Odessa Heavy Crane Construction Plant named after the January Uprising, was officially declared bankrupt. In 2016, the Odessa City Council purchased the building, which is part of the former enterprise complex, for UAH 185 million. The National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) came to the conclusion that the amount was overestimated, and the selling company, which received funds from the city budget, tried to transfer them to the company’s account with fictitious signs.
The prosecutor’s office requested 12 years in prison for Trukhanov. Other officials involved in the case have been requested by the prosecution to be sentenced to prison terms ranging from 7 to 11 years.
In July 2019, the Malinovsky District Court in Odessa found Trukhanov not guilty, considering that the investigation and the prosecutor’s office had not proven that he intended to embezzle funds and abuse power. . In November 2020, Trukhanov was re-elected mayor of Odessa, and in February 2021, the VAKS appeal chamber overturned the official’s acquittal.
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