Kyiv’s Solomyansky Court on Feb. 4 allowed Myroslav Prodan, the former head of Ukraine’s State Fiscal Service, who is being investigated for embezzlement, to remove a tracking electronic bracelet and keep his international passport.
“In effect, the court enabled the suspect to travel and go abroad,” the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office said in a statement posted on Facebook.
Anti-corruption prosecutors suspect Prodan of misappropriating Hr 89 million ($3.2 million) during his tenure as a deputy head and then as an acting head of Ukraine’s main tax agency.
The court registered the notice of suspicion against Prodan and extended other restrictions on the suspect while the investigation is ongoing.
Since the start of investigation, Prodan has left the country at least once, on Nov. 5, 2018, without warning prosecutors. However, he returned on Nov. 26, saying that he had been undergoing medical treatment in Germany.
According to the prosecutors, Prodan spent the embezzled money on premium cars and elite property: two apartments in Kyiv for Hr 6.7 million ($241,300), two houses in Turkey for Hr 78 million ($2.8 million), and three cars for Hr 3.4 million ($122,400). All of the property was registered under another person’s name to conceal the real owner.
If Prodan is found guilty of embezzlement, he faces five to 10 years in prison, a ban on taking any government job for three years, and the confiscation of property.
Prodan was previously under investigation in connection with a tax evasion scheme involving walnut exports, but the case was closed after his appointment as the acting head of the State Fiscal Service.
Prodan was appointed the acting head after the previous head of the service, Roman Nasirov, was arrested and put on trial for illegally writing off taxes to private companies.
Nasirov’s trial is ongoing, but he was released on bail of Hr 100 million ($3.7 million). In January, Nasirov registered as a self-nominated presidential candidate in the upcoming elections, due to take place on March 31.
