Lesya Ustymenko, a back-office employee, was arrested with 25 million hryvnias bail. She allegedly laundered over 145 million through cryptocurrency and cash schemes.
The prosecutor confirmed the finding reported by “Schemes” regarding the Russian citizenship of the husband of a “back-office” employee in the NABU energy corruption case.
During the hearing on the preventive measure for one of the “back-office” employees, Lesya Ustymenko, the prosecutor confirmed information previously published by “Schemes”: her husband is a citizen of the Russian Federation. The prosecutor cited this fact as one of the arguments — alongside others, such as the potential severity of punishment if convicted, the risk of evidence being destroyed, and possible influence on witnesses — that Ustymenko might evade law enforcement, which, in turn, is grounds for imposing a preventive measure.
As “Schemes” established, until 2015, Ustymenko’s husband regularly traveled to Russia, where he is originally from. It was then that he obtained a Ukrainian passport. Using the Russian Tax Service website, it was possible to identify his individual taxpayer number in Russia, linked to his Russian passport, which he did not renew after reaching the relevant age.
The prosecutor is requesting that Ustymenko be placed in custody, with the alternative of bail set at nearly 10.3 million hryvnias.
Investigative judge of the High Anti-Corruption Court, Ihor Strohy, has imposed a preventive measure on one of the back-office employees involved in money laundering – Lesya Ustymenko.
The court placed the suspect in custody with an alternative bail set at 25 million hryvnias.
According to the investigation, she, together with other participants – Fursenko, Zorina, and Myroniuk – was involved in laundering funds, including through cryptocurrency and cash schemes.
The prosecution claims that over 145 million hryvnias were “laundered” through her participation, and correspondence between the suspects includes coded terms “siniye” and “krasivie.”
The defense requested a milder preventive measure, arguing that even the alternative bail set by the detective is an excessive burden for Ustymenko.
Ustymenko noted that she has not been working since the start of the full-scale invasion, and neither has her husband. She could not explain how they are currently living.
It is worth adding that Ustymenko’s husband holds Russian citizenship and regularly traveled to Russia until 2015.
