Former Foreign Ministry State Secretary Bankov detained in case of embezzling 37 million UAH in aid
On August 3, the High Anti-Corruption Court took former State Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Oleksandr Bankov into custody. The court set bail at UAH 10 million as an alternative.
The ex-official will remain in pretrial detention until September 30. The prosecutor of the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office requested bail set at UAH 15 million, but the court partially granted the motion and reduced the amount by UAH 5 million.
Bankov is suspected of involvement in the misappropriation and legalization of over UAH 37 million in donations that foreign citizens and donors sent to support Ukraine at the beginning of Russia's full-scale invasion.
What is known about the case
According to NABU and SACPO, the former state secretary of the Foreign Ministry led an organized group that also included the former head of his staff, the head of a controlled public organization, and an accountant.
The investigation claims that Bankov persuaded international donors and employees of Ukrainian diplomatic missions to transfer aid to the account of a controlled public organization. The received funds legally had the status of targeted budget revenues of the Foreign Ministry's special fund.
Subsequently, the money was allegedly transferred to the accounts of controlled individual entrepreneurs and companies, and then converted into cash through conversion centers. To create an appearance of legitimate activity, the scheme's participants, according to the investigation, drew up fictitious letters and entered false information in grant agreements.
The prosecutor's office declared three main episodes. One of them pertains to donations that came through the Ukrainian Embassy in Japan. According to the investigation, two tranches of USD 500,000 each, intended to assist the Armed Forces and civilians were transferred to the public organization and subsequently converted into cash.
Another episode is linked to grants from the American organization Renew Democracy Initiative. The investigators believe that the participant scheme overstated the cost of actually rendered services in the documents and converted about UAH 8 million from grants totaling USD 700,000 into cash.
In overall, NABU established the legalization of over UAH 37 million – approximately USD 1.28 million at the exchange rate at the time of the alleged crime.
The actions of the suspects are qualified under articles on fraud, misappropriation of property through abuse of office, and legalizations of crime proceeds. The investigation is ongoing.
In accordance with the Constitution of Ukraine, a person is considered innocent to found guild after a conviction by court.
