Ex-People's Deputy Kryuchkov, who embezzled 1.5 billion hryvnia from two regional power companies, had his arrest in absentia canceled

Dmitry Kryuchkov went abroad on February 15 and has not returned to Ukraine for almost six months. He has five children, which allows him to leave Ukraine freely.

The Appeals Chamber of the High Anti-Corruption Court (HACC) overturned the arrest in absentia of former people's deputy Dmitry Kryuchkov, accused in the case of embezzlement of more than 1.5 billion hryvnia from the state companies Cherkassyoblenergo and Zaporozhyeoblenergo.

This decision was made by the panel of courts of the HACC Appeals Chamber on October 31, Slovo i Delo reports. Only the operative part of the decision was published in the court register.

As reported, on October 4, HACS in absentia chose a preventive measure for Kryuchkov in the form of detention, but only for a period of 60 days - until December 2, 2024. Although in this case, the calculation of the preventive measure should have begun after the arrest of the suspect.

The prosecutor of the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office and the defense filed appeals against this decision.

“The appeal of the SAPO prosecutor is partially satisfied. The appeal of the defendant's defense attorney (Kryuchkov - ed.) is satisfied. The decision of the Supreme Anti-Corruption Court of October 4, 2024 is cancelled. Make a new decision on the election to satisfy the type of detention. The decision is final, comes into force from the moment of its proclamation and is not subject to cassation appeal,” says the decision of the HACC Appeals Chamber.

As reported, on October 4, the High Anti-Corruption Court (HACC) chose in absentia a preventive measure in the form of detention for Dmitry Kryuchkov, who is accused of embezzling more than 1.5 billion hryvnia from the state companies Cherkassyoblenergo and Zaporozhyeoblenergo. The court also allowed him to be tried in absentia, and NABU put Kryuchkov on the wanted list.

In May of this year, it became known that former Verkhovna Rada deputy Dmitry Kryuchkov, whose case is being considered by the HACS, went abroad on February 15 and has not returned to Ukraine for almost half a year. He has five children, which allows him to leave Ukraine freely. At the same time, Kryuchkov took part in court hearings via video, but in recent months he began to ignore them, explaining this by the need to take his children to kindergarten.

Then the prosecutor asked the court to choose a preventive measure for Kryuchkov in the form of arrest with the alternative of posting bail in the amount of UAH 151.4 million, and also to take away his international passport.

Kryuchkov himself objected to granting the petition. He reported that he has the right to reside in Monaco. Having considered the positions of the parties, the panel of judges rejected the request of the prosecutor's office, not seeing the risk of hiding the accused from the court.

The Energy Network case. What is Dmitry Kryuchkov accused of?

SAPO accuses former deputy Dmitry Kryuchkov in two criminal proceedings that are at the stage of judicial debate. For each charge, he faces up to 12 years in prison.

In particular, according to the investigation, in 2014-2015, officials of PJSC Holding Company Energoset, whose chairman of the board was Kryuchkov, caused losses of almost UAH 350 million to the state-owned company Zaporozhyeoblenergo by organizing a payment scheme for electricity

A similar case concerns the misappropriation of funds from the state-owned Cherkassyoblenergo. The total damage to energy supply companies, according to the investigation, amounts to more than UAH 1.5 billion, of which UAH 315 million were reimbursed during the pre-trial investigation.

Let us remember that Kryuchkov had already fled from Ukraine. He was detained in Germany on July 14, 2018, but was soon released on bail. Subsequently, Kryuchkov himself agreed to the extradition procedure and returned to Ukraine on the eve of the election of Vladimir Zelensky as president. Immediately after this, the Solomensky District Court of Kyiv allowed him to be released on bail in the amount of UAH 7 million. After this, Kryuchkov’s statements served as the basis for opening several cases against Petro Poroshenko and his entourage.