NABU expands Forrest Gump suspect list

Filed 1mo ago · Via NV · The Buffoon Desk

THIS STORY IS SCORED

Sneaky Adventure

Kevin MacLeod · incompetech.com · CC BY 4.0

Photo: DFID - UK Department for International Development · CC BY 2.0 · via Wikimedia Commons

Ukraine's National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) announced on August 28 that it has added a suspect to its Operation Forrest Gump money-laundering investigation: an influential businessman and former Dnipropetrovsk regional council member, identified by the Anti-Corruption Action Center as Vasyl Astion.

Investigators allege Astion used informal influence over commercial court judges to help a criminal group secure favorable rulings, contributing to the seizure of two companies worth a combined UAH248 million ($5.6 million) in a corporate raiding scheme.

NABU also charged him with money laundering, saying the proceeds were used to help post bail for former energy minister Herman Halushchenko.

The full dispatch is available from the source below.

✒ FROM THE EDITORIAL DESK

A corruption probe that keeps growing new suspects the way a garden grows weeds says less about the investigators' diligence and more about how deep the original rot went. At least this one has a memorable codename to keep the public's attention.

Source: Read the original at NV → Scored: Sneaky Adventure · Kevin MacLeod · CC BY 4.0