Banks Do Not Accept Mudra as Collateral — VAKS Orders an Investigation

On September 24, an investigating judge of the High Anti-Corruption Court granted the motion filed by the defense team of Iryna Mudra, the former deputy head of the Office of the President. The lawyers stated that people are willing to post bail for her, but banks and payment services are refusing to process such payments.

The court ordered the National Bank of Ukraine to verify whether banks are indeed blocking bail transfers. The National Bank must also determine the reasons for these refusals and report the findings to the court and the defense within 24 hours.

 

On September 24, the High Anti-Corruption Court considered a complaint filed by Iryna Mudra’s defense team regarding problems with posting bail. Following the hearing, the investigating judge granted the complaint and instructed the National Bank of Ukraine to investigate the situation. This concerns the bail that the court had set as an alternative to keeping Iryna Mudra in pretrial detention. Previously, the High Anti-Corruption Court had imposed a preventive measure on her in the form of pretrial detention, with the possibility of being released from the detention center after posting 20 million hryvnias in bail. On September 2, the Appeals Chamber of the High Anti-Corruption Court upheld this decision.

According to her attorneys, the funds for the bail are available. However, the defense claims that banks and payment services are refusing to process the necessary payments. Because of this, the defense turned to the court. The lawyers asked the court to investigate why the bail could not be posted, even though there are people willing to transfer the required amount. The investigating judge of the High Anti-Corruption Court agreed with the defense’s arguments regarding the need to investigate this situation. The court acknowledged that the problem with processing the payment may violate the rights of Mudra, who is currently in custody.

 

Now, the National Bank of Ukraine must investigate the situation. Specifically, the NBU must verify within 24 hours whether banks are indeed blocking payments related to the posting of bail for Iryna Mudra. If it turns out that banks are refusing to process such payments without legal grounds, the National Bank must take appropriate measures to ensure that the bail payment can be processed.

In addition, the NBU must submit documents regarding this matter to the court and the defense. These include letters and recommendations that the National Bank sent to banks regarding payments marked as “bail.” The regulator must also provide information on notifications received from banks regarding widespread refusals to process such payments. After conducting an investigation, the NBU must report its findings to the court. Thus, at this time, the court has not ordered any specific bank to immediately accept the funds. The High Anti-Corruption Court has instructed the National Bank to first verify whether banks are indeed refusing to process bail payments and whether they have legal grounds for doing so.

At the same time, the bail itself has not yet been posted. According to the High Anti-Corruption Court, following the decision on the pretrial measure, Iryna Mudra remained in custody precisely because the 20 million hryvnias in bail set by the court had not been posted. Now, the results of this NBU investigation should reveal why problems arose with the transfer of funds and whether they can be resolved so that the bail can be posted. This was reported by the law firm Miller, which represents Mudra’s interests.

The full amount of bail set by the court has still not been paid for Iryna Mudra, the former deputy head of the Office of the President. Her attorney, Pavlo Goncharenko, stated that banks are allegedly refusing to process payments from bail guarantors or are not reviewing the relevant applications. The defense has not yet disclosed the exact amount that has already been paid.

Banks are refusing to process payments to post bail for People’s Deputy Vadym Stolar and former deputy head of the Office of the President Iryna Mudra. Bank representatives allegedly cite a recommendation from the National Bank, but the NBU denies any direct intervention.

The High Anti-Corruption Court has imposed a pretrial measure on MP Vadym Stolar, who is a defendant in the “Themis” case. The court set bail at 300 million hryvnias.

Incidentally, the High Anti-Corruption Court is determining a preventive measure for former Member of Parliament Maksym Mykytas in a new case involving the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) and the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (SAPO). 

Iryna Mudra has been detained and is currently undergoing investigative procedures at NABU.

Mudra’s defense team has called for a critical assessment of the prosecutor’s statements.

The High Anti-Corruption Court is determining a preventive measure for Iryna Mudra: what is known.

“Corruption must be controlled”: Who is Iryna Mudra?

Iryna Mudra has reached a plea deal with investigators—social media reports.