Court overturns sentence to fugitive ex-MP Onyshchenko, who was sentenced to 15 years
21 May 00:50
The Appeals Chamber of the High Anti-Corruption Court has overturned the sentence of a former MP who was found guilty of committing criminal offenses. The HACC did not name the former MP, but according to Hromadske ‘s sources, it is Oleksandr Onyshchenko, who was sentenced to 15 years in prison for embezzling UAH 740 million.
The HACC stated that the sentence to the former MP was canceled and a new trial was scheduled in the court of first instance.
Earlier, the High Anti-Corruption Court sentenced former Ukrainian MP Oleksandr Onyshchenko to 15 years in prison in absentia. He is hiding abroad. In 2021, it became known that the fugitive ex-MP had been granted Russian citizenship, is engaged in equestrian sports and plays for the Russian national team.
In April 2024, Oleksandr Onyshchenko and his financial director were found guilty of misappropriating public funds worth more than UAH 740 million during the production and sale of natural gas under joint venture agreements with the public joint-stock company Ukrgazvydobuvannya.
What is known about Onishchenko’s case
Onishchenko is accused of organizing an illegal scheme for the resale of gas in 2013-2016. According to the investigation, PJSC Ukrgazvydobuvannya suffered losses of UAH 740 million, and the state budget lost more than UAH 2 billion.
The investigation found that between January 2013 and January 2016, the state-owned company Ukrgasvydobuvannya entered into several unfavorable contracts with private enterprises. The intermediaries in the process were commodity exchanges that set low gas prices.
In total, the investigation established the involvement of 29 people in the gas scheme. Among them are two close people who acted as co-organizers, the rest are employees of PJSC Ukrgazvydobuvannya, a lawyer, financiers, company executives, etc.
According to the investigation, the entire chain of intermediaries, from the parties to the contracts to the winners of the bidding, was controlled by MP Oleksandr Onyshchenko.
On July 5, 2016, the Verkhovna Rada lifted Onyshchenko’s immunity, but he fled Ukraine and is wanted.
The NABU completed the pre-trial investigation against Onyshchenko in July 2018.
The fugitive MP was charged with committing crimes under Part 1 of Art. 255 (creation of a criminal organization), Part 3 of Art. 27 (types of accomplices), Part 4 of Art. 28 (commission of a crime by a group of persons), Part 5 of Art. 191 (misappropriation of property), Part 2 of Art. 205 (fictitious entrepreneurship), Part. 2 of Article 205-1 (forgery of documents), Part 2 of Article 364-1 (abuse of power), Part 2 of Article 366 (forgery in office), Part 3 of Article 209 (money laundering), Part 1 of Article 263 (illegal handling of weapons), Part 1 of Article 388 (illegal actions with seized property) of the Criminal Code of Ukraine.
In February 2019, his case went to court.
In July 2019, Onishchenko tried to run for the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine in a majority district, but the CEC and the court deregistered him.
In December 2019, Onyshchenko was detained in Germany, but at the end of May 2020, a German court rejected Ukraine’s request for his extradition. In 2020, Germany denied Onyshchenko asylum and asked him to leave.
In January 2021, the United States added Oleksandr Onyshchenko to the sanctions list for his involvement in the “Russian network of interference in the US presidential election.”
In October 2021, Onishchenko received Russian citizenship to compete for the Russian national equestrian team.
