Oligarch Kolomoisky to remain in custody until September 25 as appeal review pushed back
The Kyiv Court of Appeal postponed to September 25 the consideration of the appeal of the defense of businessman Ihor Kolomoisky against the decision to keep him in custody with the possibility of bail in the amount of more than UAH 509 million ($13.8 million), reported the Ukrinform agency.
The chairman of the panel of judges, Viktor Hlynyanyi, announced that the hearing was postponed due to the fact that the case materials from the Shevchenkivskyi District Court of Kyiv had not arrived.
The appeal of Kolomoisky's lawyers was supposed to be considered today. However, the full decision of the lowest court will be ready only tomorrow.
Kolomoisky's lawyers protested against the postponement of the appeal hearing to September 25, since their client will be forced to stay in the pre-trial detention center all this time.
Kolomoisky was not present at the court session on Wednesday. When asked by the judge why the law enforcement officers did not ensure the businessman was brought to the courtroom, the prosecutor of the Prosecutor General's Office, Pavlo Olesha, said that he did not know anything about it.
Instead, the oligarch's lawyer Oleksandr Lysak noted that the day before, on Tuesday, Kolomoisky expressed his desire to attend the court session.
After the announcement of the court's decision, the lawyers informed the journalists that, most likely, Kolomoisky will not post bail until September 25 and will remain in the pre-trial detention center, as he considers the decision of the lowest court to choose a preventive measure for him unfounded and wants to wait for the decision of the appeal.
On September 2, law enforcement officers charged Kolomoisky with fraud and money laundering. According to the investigation, during 2013-2020, Kolomoisky legalized more than UAH 500 million ($13.6 million) by siphoning them abroad, while using the infrastructure of controlled banking institutions.
The Shevchenkivskyi District Court of Kyiv chose a preventive measure for the businessman in the form of detention for two months in Dnipro with the possibility of a bail of more than UAH 500 million ($13.6 million). Also, according to the court's decision, he must hand over all documents and not communicate with witnesses.