The Ukrainian Prosecutor General’s Office (PGO) has sent to Kyiv’s Shevchenkivsky district court an indictment against former Justice Minister Oleksandr Lavrynovych, the PGO’s press service reported on Oct. 7.
“The Special Investigations Department of the Prosecutor General’s Office of Ukraine has completed a pre-trial investigation and sent to court an indictment against former Justice Minister Lavrynovych, his deputy and the director of the department of planning and finance, accounting and reporting – the chief accountant of the Justice Ministry of Ukraine, who are accused of embezzling budget funds totaling Hr 8.5 million,” the Prosecutor General’s Office said.
Prosecutors say former leaders of the Justice Ministry unlawfully spent budget funds on legal services provided by law-firms Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP and Affiliates (U.S.) under the guise of providing legal assistance for the Ukraine vs. Tymoshenko case heard by the European Court for Human Rights. The funds were, in fact, used to cover up facts of criminal violations of legislation during hearings of the case against Tymoshenko. These violations are covered by Article 191 of Part 5 (large-scale misuse of funds) and Article 366 of Part 1 (forgery) of the Criminal Code of Ukraine.
According to the Prosecutor General’s Office, the indictment against Lavrynovych was sent to court for examination of the case on its merits.
