HACC Remands Senior National Police Official Tsenov In Custody, Sets Bail At UAH 15M

(MENAFN- UkrinForm) A presiding investigative judge announced the ruling, an Ukrinform correspondent reports.

"The court has ruled that the motion be granted, a preventive measure be imposed on Tsenov in the form of detention for 60 days, until January 3, 2027 inclusive, and that bail be set at UAH 15 million," the judge said.

If bail is posted, Tsenov will be required to comply with a number of obligations, including reporting to detectives and the prosecutor whenever requested; not leaving Kyiv or the Kyiv region without permission; refraining from communicating with another suspect in the case, Andrii Osipov, and several other individuals; surrendering his international travel documents for safekeeping; and wearing an electronic monitoring bracelet, among other restrictions.

In his argument concerning the validity of the suspicion, Tsenov's lawyer said that a criminal organization must have certain characteristics, the most important of which is a hierarchical structure (meaning unconditional subordination to the head of the criminal organization – ed.).

"We can see from the correspondence that there are no instructions from Osipov to my client, nor from my client to Osipov," the defense lawyer said.

He described the amount of bail sought by the prosecution as "excessive."

"I would ask the court to reject this motion and impose a less restrictive preventive measure in the form of house arrest," the lawyer said.

The defense attorney also asked the court, should it find the motion justified and decide to remand his client in custody, to set bail at approximately 300 subsistence minimums, or UAH 998,400.

Speaking to journalists, the prosecutor clarified that another suspect in the case, Andrii Osipov, is known by the nickname "Criminal," according to materials from the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU).

Read also: Ukraine's Operation Carthage: NABU, SAPO expose bribery scheme involving senior officials

He said that, in addition to Osipov, four people had so far been formally notified of suspicion.

"They are SBU officer Serhii Duka, National Police officer Demianchuk, a person close to Osipov, Vitalii Rybalko (nicknamed 'Boxer'), and Tsenov himself," the prosecutor said.

Asked whether motions seeking preventive measures for the other suspects had been filed with the court, the prosecutor said that a motion concerning Rybalko had already been submitted and was scheduled to be heard at 15:00 in another HACC building on Beresteiskyi Avenue.

"Two more motions will be filed tomorrow (concerning Duka and Demianchuk – ed.). As for Osipov himself, we plan to file the motion a little later, most likely next week," the prosecutor said.

He explained that Osipov was already being held in custody under a preventive measure in another criminal proceeding.

"That is why we will apply to the court regarding him (with a request to impose a preventive measure – ed.) a little later. However, he was already notified of an updated suspicion yesterday," the prosecutor said.

Early on November 4, NABU announced that it and the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office (SAPO), as part of Operation Carthage, had exposed a scheme involving bribes paid to senior law enforcement officials.

Investigators established that current senior officials of the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU), the National Police, the Office of the Prosecutor General, and representatives of criminal circles were involved in the criminal activity.

The National Police of Ukraine said that officers against whom NABU had taken procedural measures had been suspended from duty pending an internal investigation.

Photo: Suspilne / Oleksii Arunian

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