Photo: facebook.com_serhii.kropiva
Ukraine’s High Anti-Corruption Court has reduced bail amounts while keeping three suspects in custody in the case involving the alleged protection of fraudulent call centers known as “Carthage.”
The Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (SAPO) announced the decision.
The court partially granted requests from the defense and extended the pretrial detention of all three members of the alleged criminal organization by another two months.
Investigators say the group operated within the Office of the Prosecutor General and provided protection to fraudulent call centers.
The suspects include Serhii Kropyva, deputy head of a department at the Prosecutor General’s Office, who is accused of leading the criminal organization; his alleged associate Yelyzaveta Ivakhnenko, known as “Muse”; and a person described as Kropyva’s trusted associate.
The court reduced the bail amounts as follows:
Serhii Kropyva: from UAH 120 million to UAH 93 million;
- Yelyzaveta Ivakhnenko: from UAH 20 million to UAH 15 million;
- The third suspect: from UAH 15 million to UAH 11.6 million.
The ‘Carthage’ case
The National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) and SAPO previously disclosed details of their investigation, known as “Carthage.” According to investigators, a senior official at the Prosecutor General’s Office may have arranged protection for fraudulent call centers.
The key suspect is Serhii Kropyva, deputy head of the Department of International Legal Cooperation at the Prosecutor General’s Office.
Recordings released by anti-corruption authorities also mentioned Prosecutor General Ruslan Kravchenko. In particular, Kropyva allegedly arranged a flight to Spain for Kravchenko’s partner shortly before the prosecutor general was due to travel there on an official visit.
On September 6, the High Anti-Corruption Court ordered Kropyva’s pretrial detention, with the option of release on bail set at UAH 120 million.
Later, on September 14, Kravchenko unexpectedly signed a notice of suspicion against NABU Director Semen Kryvonos. Reports also emerged that the prosecutor general had travelled abroad.
The Prosecutor General’s Office subsequently launched an internal investigation into the circumstances of Kravchenko’s departure from Ukraine.
