Yermak's defense team is unclear as to what role he might have played in Mindich's money laundering scheme
During the court hearing to determine a pretrial detention measure for Andriy Yermak, his lawyer challenged the prosecution’s claim that the then-head of the Office of the President may have been involved in a money-laundering scheme.
This was reported by a UA.News correspondent from the courtroom.
“Mindich is a businessman; he is neither a civil servant nor a public official. Yes, he is in business, in the way he himself understands it, and has been for many years. What we see is that the esteemed prosecution accuses him of the fact that he, his criminal organization, together with another person, allegedly created a so-called money-laundering scheme to launder dirty money. And then a very important question arises for me: if the head of this criminal organization, Mindich, created such an organization to launder this dirty money, then, excuse me, what role did the head of the Office of the President of Ukraine play in this criminal organization? Was he an accomplice to Mindich? In what way? It’s clear, isn’t it? From the prosecution’s perspective, he (Mindich—ed.) took some dirty money, laundered it, laundered it, laundered it—and then what did he give to Andriy Borysovych, so that he could keep laundering it or something? well, how exactly—did the money remain dirty in his possession, or was it only partially dirty money?” the lawyer stated.
Former Head of the President’s Office Andriy Yermak stated during the court hearing that he was interested in a transparent and impartial consideration of the case.
On the evening of May 11, after receiving a notice of suspicion from the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office, former Head of the Office of the President of Ukraine Andriy Yermak stated that he would not comment on anything during the investigation.
