Supreme Court Overturns the Unlawful Decisions Adopted by the Bureau of Economic Security Against IBOX Bank

On 12 March, the Bureau of Economic Security (abbreviated – BES) announced that it was requesting a special investigation into the case of the owner of IBOX Bank. On 13 March, Judge Volodymyr Marmash will consider this motion in the Lychakivskyi District Court of Lviv, kp.ua reports.

The defence believes that the BES detectives and Judge Marmash violate Ukrainian law.

The BES detectives are seeking to reopen the case against the owner of IBOX BANK, even though on 5 December 2024, the Supreme Court settled the issue once and for all in the criminal case against her and cancelled the illegal decisions made by the detective of the BES Territorial Office in the Lviv Region, thereby confirming the illegality of the prosecution’s actions in the said proceedings.

The defence of the accused believes that the BES detectives and Judge Marmash, by accepting such a motion for consideration, grossly violate Ukrainian law. After all, the deadline for pretrial investigation in the criminal proceedings against the owner of IBOX BANK has been exceeded by 3 months, which is unacceptable in cases of this category.

Thus, the defence emphasises that the BES’s attempts to reopen the case against the Bank’s management are accompanied by numerous violations of the criminal procedure. ‘The prosecution is pursuing its selfish interests, which are not related to a legitimate investigation aimed at identifying the real criminals,’ the defence comments.

Earlier, it was reported that it was the Lychakivskyi District Court that considers many cases initiated by the BES and the State Bureau of Investigation (abbreviated – SBI). It was suspected that such cases may be ordered, and their consideration may be managed in a ‘manual mode’ in order to blackmail the accused. It is noted that if such offences are found by the investigator and judge, the penalty may be up to 10 years in prison. If future investigations reveal signs of corruption offences in the actions of these individuals, the penalty may be significantly increased with the mandatory confiscation of property acquired due to such ‘legal’ activities.

As a reminder, it is the Lychakivskyi District Court of Lviv that has been considering the criminal case against the traitor Viktor Medvedchuk for more than two years. And the Presiding Judge of this Court, Mr Hryhorii Zhovnir, ensured that the case was heard in camera, thus listening to Medvedchuk’s lawyers.

Previously, IBOX BANK—whose liquidation was decided by the National Bank of Ukraine—had already refuted the information that appeared in the media, claiming that three top managers of the bank were allegedly notified of suspicion for money laundering and illegal organization of gambling activities.

IBOX BANK operated in the Ukrainian financial market from 1993 to 2023. Already by the end of 2021, the National Bank of Ukraine named IBOX BANK one of the most profitable banks in Ukraine.

In 2022, the Committee on Supervision and Regulation of Banks and Payment Systems of the National Bank of Ukraine confirmed the implementation of all economic standards by IBOX BANK, which allow the financial institution to become a second-tier bank. This information was published after the approval of the new edition of the charter of IBOX BANK by the National Bank.

Since its creation in 2021, the BES has faced a rocky start. The BES is tasked with tackling financial crimes such as fraud, tax evasion, smuggling, and money laundering. Its performance has been poor enough to prompt a parliamentary investigation by the Verkhovna Rada. The agency has been entangled in multiple scandals, including a high-profile case in which BES detectives were caught concealing criminal activity. That incident led to the resignation of the BES director in 2023, followed by a string of acting directors struggling to stabilize the organization.