On 14 February, the Primorsky District Court of Odessa released from custody the creator of the Bitsonar pyramid, Alexander Tovstenko, who was accused of organizing the murder-for-hire of a former colleague. ForkLog reported, citing participants in the proceedings.
The judge rejected the prosecutor’s request to extend the detention period for the accused and ordered the measure changed to round-the-clock home arrest for 60 days.
According to the decree, the accused must, on demand, appear before the Primorsky District Court, must not leave his place of permanent residence without permission, and must also notify the court of any change of residence.
To prevent him from leaving Ukraine, Tovstenko must surrender his foreign passport and other documents granting border-crossing rights. He must also wear an electronic bracelet.
“If the obligations imposed are not fulfilled, a harsher measure of restraint and a monetary penalty may be imposed on the defendant,” the decree states.
Oversight of compliance with the home arrest has been entrusted to the National Police.
In addition, ForkLog was told by the plaintiff that Tovstenko left the courtroom without the electronic bracelet, as the devices were not enough — they were broken.
He added that, according to his information, the accused plans to leave Ukraine soon using forged documents.
As reported, according to the prosecutor’s version, the accused Alexander Tovstenko ordered the murder of the former Bitsonar technical employee Yaroslav Stadchenko. Stadchenko said that the company, which presented itself as an investment fund for algorithmic trading of cryptocurrencies, was actually a Ponzi scheme.
Stadchenko also stated that the organizer of the pyramid is Alexander Tovstenko.
In August 2020 unknown individuals abducted Stadchenko. It turned out that this was done by employees of Ukrainian security services to stage his murder. The killer was later detained in Odessa.
In September Stadchenko stated to the FBI about wrongdoing by Tovstenko.
Tovstenko faces life imprisonment.