Ex-MP Onyshchenko sentenced: 15 years in absentia for ‘gas case’ corruption
Ukraine’s High Anti-Corruption Court has sentenced MP Oleksandr Onyshchenko to 15 years in prison in absentia for the misappropriation of 740 million hryvnias ($18.9 million), the anti-corruption prosecutor's office reported on April 5.
The Court’s verdict was reported by the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office without disclosing the identity of the defendant. However, the information provided suggests that it is Oleksandr Onyshchenko.
In addition to the former lawmaker, his financial director was also sentenced to 12 years in prison.
According to the SAPO, both defendants were found guilty of misappropriating public funds worth more than UAH 740 million ($18.9 million) during the production and sale of natural gas under joint venture agreements with the public joint-stock company UkrGasVydobuvannya, Ukraine’s largest gas producer.
Oleksandr Onyshchenko's gas case: what is known
According to the NABU, former MP Oleksandr Onyshchenko and his associates sold gas from the state-owned Ukrgazvydobuvannya through pseudo-exchanges, which caused the state losses of more than 1.613 billion hryvnias ($41.3 million). He managed to leave Ukraine before the legislature lifted his parliamentary immunity and approved his criminal prosecution.
Germany refused to extradite Onyshchenko to Ukraine in May 2020. The United States imposed on Jan. 11, 2021 sanctions on seven people, including Onyshchenko, and four organizations for interfering in the U.S. election.
It emerged in October 2021 that Onyshchenko, who is a fugitive from Ukrainian justice, had obtained Russian citizenship at the end of 2020.
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