The criminal proceedings against Oleksandr Zyma, Director of the Legal Department of the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU), for alleged abuse of office, are causing a stir in financial circles and among human rights activists alike. The case is currently being investigated by the Pechersk District Police Department in Kyiv. The decisive step will be to serve Zyma with an official notice of suspicion, after which investigators will be able to file a petition with the court to remove him from office, which will ensure an impartial investigation and prevent Zyma's possible influence on the investigation process, UNN writes.
Earlier, the SBI confirmed that is investigating criminal proceedings for alleged abuse of office by NBU Chief Lawyer Zyma. The case concerns a letter from the National Bank to the Deposit Guarantee Fund signed by Zyma, in which he recommended that the Fund withdraw the lawsuits filed by Concord Bank against the NBU. The document referred to four lawsuits filed by the bank against the NBU, in which Concorde demanded the cancellation of fines totaling almost UAH 63.5 million. They were filed even before the National Bank decided to liquidate Concorde and put it under temporary administration.
Ukrainian law provides that after serving a notice of suspicion on a person who holds a senior position and may influence the course of the investigation, investigators have the right to apply to the court for the temporary removal of that person from office. In the case of Oleksandr Zyma, his position as the NBU's chief lawyer gives him significant access to documents, tools, and connections, which may pose a risk to an objective investigation.
Ukrainian case law provides for the suspension of suspects in cases where there is a possibility that the suspect will obstruct the investigation, for example, by accessing important documents or by putting pressure on colleagues. This is a standard procedure designed to ensure the objectivity of the investigation and to protect the interests of the injured party. The Criminal Procedure Code of Ukraine provides that removal from office may be imposed by a court as an interim measure during a pre-trial investigation. To do so, prosecutors or investigators must substantiate in court the existence of risks associated with the suspect's continued employment in the relevant position.
"The CPC provides for the possibility of interim measures in criminal proceedings, including removal from office. This is carried out during the pre-trial investigation, but the person must be directly served with a suspicion of committing a criminal offense. After that, the person can only be removed from office at the request of the investigator, agreed with the prosecutor, which is submitted to the investigating judge at the location of the pre-trial investigation body," lawyer Oleksandr Baidyk noted in a comment to UNN.
According to him, the suspension can be for up to two months to prevent the suspect from influencing witnesses, destroying evidence at his workplace, etc.
It is worth noting that the co-owner of Concord Bank, Yulia Sosedka, has repeatedly stated that the case may have been manipulated, pointing to administrative resources that could be used to delay the process. In particular, it was said that investigators of the State Bureau of Investigation, who had been working on Zyma's case for more than 4 months, did not comply with the court decision to recognize her as a victim in the case, and then transferred the criminal proceedings against the National Bank's chief lawyer to the police.
"This behavior of the investigating body indicates that someone is using administrative resources to block the consideration of the case on the merits. This undermines the fairness of the process and impedes the protection of my legal rights, which raises serious doubts about the objectivity and impartiality of the investigation," said Yulia Sosedka.
Security expert Serhiy Shabovta does not rule out that law enforcement will not prosecute Zyma properly, as he is a man of NBU Governor Andriy Pyshnyi.
"The NBU is headed by a person who was the head of Oschadbank, which has never spoiled us with its good performance. A bank that was always on the verge of bankruptcy, and the state simply propped it up (financed it - ed.), and a person with such professional experience became the head of the NBU. What do we want? Now all the subordinates, and the chief lawyer is a person who is close to the chairman, personally fulfill his tasks. That's why he is protected, he (Zyma - ed.) is protected in advance, because he works in a system that is built for corruption, and under certain obligations to him that he will be protected from persecution," Shabovta said.
The transfer of the case from the SBI to the district police department may indicate attempts to delay it, said Serhii Lysenko, managing partner of GRACERS, attorney at law.
"Dumping the case to the district police department is a direct way to hide and bury the case. And, unfortunately, in most cases, they succeed," Lysenko noted.
Therefore, in order to avoid any insinuations, police investigators should seek Zyma's removal from office and thus ensure the objectivity of the investigation.
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