On October 3, 2024, the panel of HACC judges partially granted the motion of the SAPO prosecutor and put Dmytro Kriuchkov on the international wanted list.
The case of Kriuchkov was at the stage of judicial debate, when on August 27, the HACC decided to return to the stage of clarifying the circumstances.
Such a motion was filed by the defense. The attorney asked for more time to prepare a motion for returning to the stage of evidence examination. Subsequently, the defense counsel changed his position and provided the court with a pre-prepared motion to return to the clarification of the circumstances.
After that, attorney Mazalov stopped attending the hearings and Kriuchkov had a free aid attorney appointed for him. However, last time, the accused himself failed to appear at the hearing without providing a reason.
Because of this, today, the prosecutor filed a motion to search for Kriuchkov, and earlier the court had tried to compel the former MP to attend the hearing.
In addition, the free aid attorney also failed to appear at the hearing. The new lawyer Batchenko claims that the prosecutor did not prove the intent of Kriuchkov's evasion from the investigation.
Kriuchkov is known to have left Ukraine on February 15, 2024, and he never returned. He has five children, which allows him to leave Ukraine without obstacles. Back then, Kriuchkov joined the hearings online. Interestingly, he involved a cameraman in the hearing who was making a film about the presiding judge Kruk.
Kriuchkov is accused of seizing more than UAH 1.5 billion of Cherkasyoblenergo and Zaporizhiaoblenergo companies (regional electricity distribution companies). Officials of these companies were also involved in the criminal scheme.
The prosecutor plans to file a motion to hear the case in absentia.