HACC sets bail for the “Sense Bank” CEO Stupak at UAH 15 million. He is suspected of money laundering

The High Anti-Corruption Court (HACC) set bail for the “Sense Bank” head Oleksiy Stupak — UAH 15 million, but did not take him into custody.

This became known from the HACC broadcast.

The court ordered Stupak not to travel outside Kyiv, surrender his foreign passports, wear an electronic bracelet, and not communicate with other defendants in the “Forrest Gump” case.

Stupak is suspected of laundering illegally obtained funds. According to the investigation, he may be involved in a scheme to legalize UAH 150 million, which were probably deposited as collateral for former Energy Minister Herman Halushchenko.

At trial, prosecutors said that since the start of the full-scale invasion, Oleksiy Stupak has left the country at least 30 times, has no children in Ukraine, and therefore no stable ties, so he may be hiding from the investigation. Stupakʼs lawyers responded by saying that all of his trips were work-related.

The “Forrest Gump” Case

On August 19, NABU and SAPO published an investigation called "Forrest Gump" about the legalization of UAH 150 million to pay bail for one of the defendants in the "Midas" case, former Energy Minister Herman Halushchenko. According to the investigation, in early June, the participants in the scheme gained de facto control over Sense Bank and began using it to legalize funds.

Among the suspects:

• former deputy head of the Presidentʼs Office Iryna Mudra;
• former MP Maksym Mykytas;
• current MP Vadym Stolar;
• Deputy Minister of Justice Olena Ferens;
• Director General of the Directorate for Legal Policy of the Public Prosecutorʼs Office Viktor Dubovyk;
• businessman and former deputy of the Dnipropetrovsk Regional Council Vasyl Astion;
• former chairmen of the supervisory board and management board of the state-owned “Sense Bank” Mykola Hladyshenko and Oleh Stupak;
• the head of the department of the state-owned “Sense Bank” Lyudmila Snihur;
• people associated with Mykytas are Valentyn Elizarov, Yehor Merkulov, Oleksandr Ostapenko, and Mykyta Tarkovsky.

Three of them have already been sentenced to prison or bail: Mykytas — UAH 30 million, his "right-hand man" Yelizarov — UAH 20 million, and Viktor Dubovyk, head of the Directorate for Legal Affairs of the Prosecutor Generalʼs Office, — UAH 7 million (bail has already been paid for him).

In addition, on August 20, NABU and SAPO presented a continuation of this case — Operation “Femida” with the same defendants. As investigators established, with the help of hackers, the defendants hacked into state registers, forged documents, and used "their" people in the Commercial Court and the Ministry of Justice to seize enterprises and real estate.

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