The investigation is stalling: for almost six months there have been no active investigative actions in the case of abuse of power by the chief lawyer of the NBU
Kyiv • UNN
The investigation of the case against Oleksandr Zima, a lawyer of the NBU, is being artificially delayed. Despite the resonance, investigative actions are almost not carried out, which may indicate a deliberate delay.
The investigation of the criminal proceedings against the director of the legal department of the National Bank of Ukraine, Oleksandr Zima, has all the signs of being artificially prolonged. Despite the public outcry and the seriousness of possible offenses, investigative actions in the case of an official crime are hardly carried out, UNN writes.
This refers to criminal proceedings opened by law enforcement officers at the end of 2023 under Part 2 of Article 364 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (abuse of power or official position, which caused serious consequences). According to UNN, the basis for opening the case was an official letter signed by Oleksandr Zima, who is also the chairman of the Administrative Council of the Deposit Guarantee Fund, addressed to the Fund. In the document, on behalf of the National Bank of Ukraine, he gave a "recommendation" to the DGF to withdraw lawsuits filed against the NBU by representatives of Concord Bank even before the start of its liquidation. In the lawsuits, Concord challenged fines of almost 63.5 million hryvnias imposed by the regulator.
The fund followed the recommendation-instruction , which, according to the co-owner of the bank Olena Sosiedka, deprived the shareholders of the bank of their constitutional right to a fair trial.
After the transfer of the investigation of the criminal proceedings to the Pechersk police department in Kyiv, Concord's co-owners Olena and Yulia Sosiedok were recognized as victims. According to lawyers, this means that the investigators acknowledged that Oleksandr Zima's actions caused real significant damage.
In response to UNN's request, the police reported that they plan to interrogate the chief lawyer of the National Bank during the investigation, after which they will consider the possibility of applying to the court for his removal from office.
However, according to sources of UNN familiar with the course of the investigation, there has been no active investigative action for almost six months. Since the interrogation of the victims, only a few measures have been taken to obtain documents by the investigators, but the interrogation of witnesses or a potential suspect, not to mention the change of Oleksandr Zima's status, is still absent.
The only possible explanation for the fact that Oleksandr Zima has not yet been questioned in the case, lawyers call the fact that he is planned to be served with a notice of suspicion.
If a potential suspect, he can be questioned only as a witness. If this person is served with a notice of suspicion in the future, then this interrogation protocol as a witness will have no legal significance, will be inadmissible evidence and cannot be used in any case by either investigators, prosecutors, or the court. Is there a need to interrogate a person first as a witness, and then, knowing that there may be a notice of suspicion in the future... here are the peculiarities of each criminal proceeding - tactics, techniques, investigation plans
Lawyers also note that the delay may be due to examinations appointed during the investigation. However, artificial delays cannot be ruled out either. In order to close criminal proceedings.
I do not rule out the case if there are simply no changes, time is dragging on in order to somehow close those materials sooner or later
At the same time, such a long investigation raises many questions. Because in the dry residue there is nothing unknown in this case: a letter signed by the chief lawyer of the NBU is in the public domain; the fact of the execution of the illegal instruction given by him is; the victims are identified, and therefore the damage caused is also.
Therefore, the totality of these facts makes it possible to conclude that the delay in the investigation of the criminal proceedings is artificial. It can be assumed that Oleksandr Zima enjoys an influential "roof", for example, from the leadership of the National Bank. This circumstance could explain the surprising passivity of the investigating authorities.
It should also be noted that the situation around the case of the chief lawyer of the NBU creates a dangerous precedent when serious official abuses in the central bank remain unpunished, this undermines the confidence of Ukraine's international partners, in particular the IMF and the EU, in the regulator and gives the enemy in the form of Russian propagandists the opportunity to criticize Ukraine for corruption.
