Former President's Office deputy chief, ex-lawmaker face bail hearings in corporate raiding case

Iryna Mudra, the former deputy head of the President’s Office, and Maksym Mykytas, a former lawmaker, appeared before the High Anti-Corruption Court for bail hearings on Aug. 21 as authorities continue their investigation into a corporate raiding scheme.

The Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (SAPO) asked the High Anti-Corruption Court to keep Mudra in custody, with the possibility of posting Hr 150 million ($3.3 million) in bail.

The court also ordered that Mykytas be held in custody as a pretrial measure, with bail set at Hr 200 million ($4.47 million)

Both are among the suspects in the National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) investigation codenamed "Forest Gump."

On Aug. 19, the NABU said that it was "conducting a special operation to expose a criminal organization led by a current and a former Ukrainian lawmaker and involving senior officials from the President's Office."

According to investigators, the suspects are accused of laundering Hr 150 million ($3.4 million) and transferring the funds through state-owned Sense Bank to post bail for a suspect in prior corruption case, which all details point to being former Justice and Energy Minister Herman Halushchenko.

Halushchenko has faced charges of money laundering and involvement in organized crime in a sweeping probe focused on the state nuclear power monopoly, Energoatom.

The National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) said on Aug. 21 that it was investigating how suspects circumvented financial monitoring.

"Who exactly managed to circumvent it, when, and by what unlawful means are matters the inspections must establish," the NBU said.

According to NABU, the suspects in the "Forest Gump" investigation allegedly also seized control of a business valued at more than Hr 248 million hryvnias ($5.56 million) in the fall of 2025.

Investigators allege that, in May 2026, the suspects also attempted to take possession of properties totaling Hr 207 million ($4.64 million) and that the suspects sought to gain control of a central Kyiv property worth over 500 million hryvnias (approximately $11.2 million).

Mudra, who had been overseeing the judiciary at the President’s Office, is the most high-ranking suspect in the investigation.

On Aug. 19, Mudra was charged with money laundering and was fired by a presidential decree shortly thereafter.