The head of the Presidential Office (OP) Kyrylo Budanov stated that the court should assess the records from NABU and SAPO in the "Forrest Gump" case, which mention his name.
"Let the court figure out what is being heard and where. You know, we have a lot of things being heard wherever," he said in a comment to Hromadske.
Budanov said that he had communicated with Iryna Mudra, who appears in this case, after she was declared suspicious and dismissed from her position as deputy head of OP.
"Firstly, dismissal is a legal process. Secondly, in fact, I have never turned away from people until there are final conclusions. If the court will conclude that she IS guilty, it would be another question," Budanov said.
Operation "Forrest Gump" and whatʼs Budanov doing here?
On August 19, NABU and SAPO reported that they had uncovered a criminal scheme that organized the legalization of UAH 150 million to pay bail for one of the defendants in the “Midas” case, former Minister of Energy Herman Halushchenko.
According to the investigation, in early June, the participants in the scheme gained actual control over “Sense Bank” and began using it to launder money. They were informed of suspicion under Part 3 of Article 209 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine — legalization of money obtained by criminal means.
One of the defendants in the case is the former deputy head of the Presidentʼs Office Iryna Mudra. She has already been remanded in custody with bail set at UAH 20 million.
Among the other suspects:
- 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 given preventive measures — detention or bail: Mykytas — UAH 30 million, his "right-hand man" Yelizarov — UAH 20 million, and Viktor Dubovyk, the head of the Directorate for Legal Affairs of the Prosecutor Generalʼs Office, — UAH 7 million (bail has already been posted for him).
In addition, in the released recordings of conversations by NABU, the defendants mentioned the names "Kyrylo" and "Kyrylo Oleksiyovych". He appears at various stages of the story with Halushchenkoʼs bail: from the request of businessman Tymur Mindich to help with his release and the transfer of cash to the conversation with former deputy Mykytas after the legalization of funds and an agreement to compensate for the costs of organizing the scheme.
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, they 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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