On April 19, the Primorsky District Court of Odessa extended by two months the detention of Alexander Tovstenko, founder of the Bitsonar pyramid, who is accused of organizing the murder of a former colleague.
The three-judge panel extended the pre-trial detention to the maximum permissible term, until June 19, with no possibility of posting bail.
“Lawyers said that Tovstenko’s health had deteriorated and that he has dependents—the children and elderly parents—but this information did not influence the court’s decision,” said ForkLog adviser Stanislav Boris, who represents the victim Yaroslav Stadtchenko.
The decision took effect. The accused may appeal within five days.
“In about a month, the defense may again request a review of the detention measure under exceptional circumstances, such as a serious illness or compensation for damages under a civil suit. But we foresee that the measure will not change further,” added Boris.
According to him, the defense for Tovstenko asked for time to review the case materials, which delayed the substantive consideration to May 12.
At the next hearing, the court will begin examining the evidence in the case and questioning witnesses.
“The judges did not take anyone’s side, no motions were filed that could indicate their bias, at least at this stage,” said Stanislav Boris.
As reported, according to the prosecution, the defendant Alexander Tovstenko ordered the killing of former Bitsonar technical employee Yaroslav Stadtchenko. The latter said that the company, which described itself as an investment fund for algorithmic trading of cryptocurrencies, was in fact a Ponzi scheme.
Stadtchenko also stated that the organizer of the pyramid is Alexander Tovstenko.
Exit-scam Bitsonar: how a former Ukrainian official built a pyramid, presenting it as an investment fund
In August 2020 Stadtchenko was kidnapped by unknowns. It turned out that this was done by employees of Ukraine’s security services to stage his murder. The client who ordered the murder was later arrested in Odessa.
In September Stadtchenko stated to the FBI about misconduct by Tovstenko.
In December, the court denied Tovstenko the right to be released from custody on bail. The judge explained the decision as «objectively existing risk» that the suspect could flee justice, destroy important physical evidence in the criminal case, and influence the victim and a witness.
Tovstenko faces life imprisonment.
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