The Prosecutor's Office of Ukraine has requested this Friday that the Anti-Corruption Supreme Court order preventive detention, or alternatively the release on bail of 150 million hryvnias (2.8 million euros), for Irina Mudra, who until a few days ago served as deputy head of the Presidential Office, arrested as part of the 'Forrest Gump' operation.
The National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) and the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office (SAPO) reported this week the detection of a new money laundering network aimed at gathering the 150 million hryvnias necessary for the bail of former Energy Minister Herman Halushchenko, investigated within the well-known 'Midas' case.
The defense, for its part, has requested to postpone the hearing citing the deterioration of Mudra's health following the accusations. The former Deputy Minister of Justice is suffering from an acute stress episode, although she has insisted that she has refused to be hospitalized in order to attend this first appearance.
"I will do everything possible to cooperate with the investigation and the court, but due to my health condition, I request time for rehabilitation and to recover the state I was in," Mudra has requested, who was dismissed by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky as soon as the news broke on Wednesday.
At the same time, the defense has warned that Mudra will not be able to assume the payment of the bail if the process involves the seizure of her properties. "My client will be deprived even of the theoretical possibility of selling them in a very short time," the lawyer explained, reports the agency Ukrinform.
The magistrate has ultimately opted to postpone the hearing until this Monday, the date on which he will make a definitive ruling. In parallel, he has authorized the release on bail of another of the investigated, former deputy Maksim Mikitas, set at 30 million hryvnias (about 575,000 euros).