Zherdytsky Held Without Bail

The Ukrainian Prosecutor General’s Office has added to its list of charges against Viktor Zherdytsky, former president of Hradobank, currently under arrest in Germany pending trial. Meanwhile the court in Celle handling the Zherdytsky case, has withdrawn seven counts. According to Justice Burghard Mumi, “After verifying the circumstances of Zherdytsky’s confinement, it has transpired that six of the seven charges pressed against him are to be dropped under the statute of limitation.”

Viktor Zherdytsky as Hradobank president is accused of embezzling DM 86 million allocated by the German government in the mid-1990s as compensation to Ukrainian victims of Nazism. Ukraine received a total of some 250 million marks during the period and the money was transferred to Hradobank which was to further transfer it to the compensation fund. Not all of the money reached it. Zherdytsky was arrested in Hanover on October 11 while attempting to withdraw DM 100,000 from his bank account. Germany officially refused to extradite him to Ukraine, explaining that the Zherdytsky case will be unraveled and brought to court without Ukraine taking any part.

What German institutions are dealing with the Zherdytsky case? Tomas Klinge of the Hanover’s Public Prosecutor’s Office says after Zherdytsky was charged in that city on March 24, the case was handed over to the City Court of Hildesheim where he is to stand trial. “The superior court in Celle had to verify the legality of the arrest first and whether Viktor Zherdytsky was to remain in custody. The court ruled that he was. From now on Zherdytsky will be in the hands of the Hildesheim court.”

Now Zherdytsky faces only one charge, the embezzlement of four million marks from the sum meant as compensation to former victims of Nazism. Under German law, such criminal offenses have a statute of limitation of five years, provided there is no official investigation during the period. This is why Zherdytsky faces only one charge and the investigation started before the five-year deadline. The court in Celle ruled that, despite the considerably shorted list of charges, Zherdytsky should not be released before trial. Judge Burghard Mumi explains that there is a risk of the accused fleeing. “The risk of flight is based on the fact that the defendant is not a German national and does not have permanent residence in this country. However, he has numerous connections abroad and enough money to pay for his getaway.” Moreover, German authorities believe that his criminal act has inflicted such damage on the Ukrainian victims of Nazism that the accused cannot be released on his own recognizance.