The case of the NBU Chief Lawyer: confession of victims opens the way to serving suspicion

The recognition of the co-founders of Concord Bank, Olena and Yulia Sosedok, as victims in the criminal proceedings against the director of the legal department of the National Bank of Ukraine, Oleksandr Zyma, means that the damage they suffered has been officially confirmed. This decision brings the investigation closer to serving a notice of suspicion to the official of abuse of power or office, UNN reports.

Dmytro Kasyanenko, attorney at law of Kasyanenko & Partners Law Firm, in a comment to UNN explained that according to the Criminal Procedure Code of Ukraine, the status of a victim is granted to a person who has suffered damage as a result of a criminal offense.

"According to the Criminal Procedure Code of Ukraine, the status of a victim is granted to a person who has suffered physical, moral or material damage as a result of a criminal offense. The definition of the circle of victims indicates that the pre-trial investigation body has recognized the fact of damage," Kasyanenko explained.

Thus, the granting of victim status to Olena and Yulia Sosiedko confirms that their claims against the NBU official have merit and are being taken seriously by the investigation. This indicates that the criminal proceedings that were opened on the fact of the crime may now become personalized, directed directly against Oleksandr Zyma.

"As for the transfer of criminal proceedings from factual to proceedings with a specific suspect, this is the next step, but it is not always automatic. To serve a suspicion, the investigation must have sufficient evidence to reasonably suspect a particular person of committing a crime. That is, the fact of identifying victims does not automatically oblige to serve a suspicion, but often indicates the need for further investigation aimed at identifying the guilty person," the lawyer explained.

Legal practice shows that after recognizing a person as a victim, the investigating authorities are obliged to take the necessary investigative actions to identify the perpetrators and bring them to justice. This includes serving a notice of suspicion to a person against whom there is sufficient evidence of involvement in a crime. Thus, the recognition of Olena and Yulia Sosedok as victims in the case against Oleksandr Zyma is an important step that may indicate that there are grounds to serve a notice of suspicion on Oleksandr Zyma, the NBU's chief lawyer, and to bring him to criminal liability.

Recall

The criminal proceedings were opened due to a letter from Oleksandr Zyma to the Deposit Guarantee Fund (DGF). In the document, Zyma, who is both the director of the NBU's legal department and the chairman of the DGF's Administrative Board, recommended that the Fund withdraw the lawsuits filed by Concord Bank against the NBU on behalf of the National Bank. These claims concerned the cancellation of fines amounting to almost UAH 63.5 million and were filed before the decision to liquidate the bank.

The Deposit Guarantee Fund followed this recommendation, which, according to Olena Sosedka, deprived the bank's shareholders of their constitutional right to a fair trial.

In this way, Zyma may have called into question the independence of the Deposit Guarantee Fund's management, which now has a negative impact on cooperation with international financial institutions. It is possible that, for example, the IMF, due to its dissatisfaction with the situation, has begun to actively demand that Ukraine develop a procedure and hold an open competition for the position of the DGF Managing Director.

In addition, according to Concorde co-owner Olena Sosiedka, Zima deprived the bank's shareholders of their constitutional right to a fair trial by his instructions. 

Currently, Zyma's case has been transferred from the SBI to the Pechersk Police Department in Kyiv for investigation. Law enforcement officers told UNN that they plan to interrogate the NBU's chief lawyer, and after serving him with a notice of suspicion, investigators are likely to petition the court to remove Zyma from his duties as director of the NBU's legal department.