Kyiv`s Pechersky district court has started releasing ex-heads of regional tax agencies on condition of bail after they were apprehended amid massive raids and detentions of former chiefs of local tax agencies across Ukraine on May 24.
In particular, former head of Poltava region`s tax agency Volodymyr Zadorozhniy was released after he had been granted bail set at UAH 12 million, or US$457,000. He is also obliged to wear an ankle monitor.
Former head of the former Income and Tax Ministry`s main department in Luhansk region Oleksandr Antipov was also granted bail worth UAH 15 million/$571,000. The prosecutors demanded that he be remanded in custody.
The court also made Antipov wear an ankle monitor for five days until bail has been put up. If he fails to meet the deadline for the bail, the court will decide on other pretrial restrictions.
Earlier, Ukraine`s chief military prosecutor Anatoliy Matios held at joint briefing with Interior Minister Arsen Avakov at Kyiv`s Zhuliany airport on May 24, 2017, where he announced the launch of a massive anti-corruption crackdown. The operation involved over 1,700 police officers and about 500 military prosecutors, who conducted 454 raids in 15 regions in Ukraine.
Prosecutor General Lutsenko in turn announced that 22 officials from the regional tax authorities had been detained. They were affiliated with disgraced ex-president Viktor Yanukovych`s allies. The detainees were brought to Kyiv by air and then sent to the court that decided on pretrial measures.
