Ukraine's High Anti-Corruption Court adjourned a hearing on Sunday on whether to detain Iryna Mudra, the former deputy head of the Office of the President, in a 150 million hryvnia money-laundering case known as "Forrest Gump." The court said it would resume the session on August 25 at 08:00. The hearing was streamed live on the court's YouTube channel.
Before the adjournment, Mudra asked the court to postpone the session, explaining that she had spent the entire weekend in hospital and that her closing statement would take about half an hour to deliver.
She said she had spent the whole weekend receiving inpatient treatment and that she found it somewhat difficult, adding that she wanted to be able to give her statement while alert and effective.
Mudra also told the court that her mother had undergone a scheduled operation during the proceedings and had just come out of a coma. She asked the court to let her speak with her mother and prepare for her statement, saying she was asking for the chance to talk to her and to be able to concentrate on her speech.
Prosecutor Opposed the Delay
The prosecutor objected to postponing the hearing, arguing that the defense had already had sufficient time to prepare and that the lawyers were repeating the same arguments during the session, which was dragging out the case.
The judge ultimately ruled to continue the hearing on August 25 at 08:00, and said the defense would have no more than an hour and a half for closing statements.
The Forrest Gump Case
Mudra is a defendant in the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine's "Forrest Gump" case, in which investigators are examining the activities of a criminal organization allegedly involving government officials. The bureau, known by its Ukrainian acronym NABU, is the country's main agency for investigating high-level corruption, and the High Anti-Corruption Court is the specialized tribunal set up to hear such cases.
According to investigators, members of the scheme laundered 150 million hryvnias. Part of that money was allegedly used to post bail for a defendant in a separate NABU case known as "Midas."
Law enforcement has not named the person for whom the bail was posted. However, recordings released by NABU refer to someone called "German," and the bail figure matches the amount set for former Energy Minister Herman Halushchenko.
Hearing Already Delayed Once
The court first began considering the pretrial restriction motion on August 21, but adjourned until August 24 after the defense requested additional time to prepare and citing a deterioration in Mudra's health.
The prosecutor has asked the court to remand Mudra in custody, with an alternative option of 150 million hryvnias in bail.
Mudra denies wrongdoing. Her defense has argued that much of the conversations cited by the prosecution do not directly concern her. During the August 24 hearing, her lawyers said the prosecutor had taken fragments of Mudra's conversations out of context, including phrases about the need to "head" and "control" corruption.
Dismissal Following Leaked Recordings
On August 19, NABU announced it had exposed a group that laundered 150 million hryvnias obtained through criminal activity. The same day, after recordings related to the case emerged, President Volodymyr Zelensky dismissed Mudra from her post in the Office of the President.
Mudra said she would be defended by the law firm Miller, run by veteran Masi Nayem. Zelensky said he had had enough details to justify dismissing her.
