Cash Seizure Lifted for Ex-Wife of Andriy Derkach After Prosecutors Fail to Use Funds as Evidence

Court Overturns Asset Freeze on Seized Currency

According to Главком: The High Anti-Corruption Court of Ukraine has canceled the seizure of cash discovered in July 2022 at the apartment of Oksana Terekhova, the former wife of ex-lawmaker Andriy Derkach. The ruling was based on the prosecutor’s failure to include these funds as evidence in the indictment, leading the court to determine that the money had lost its evidentiary value.

Judge Andriy Bityuk’s full decision was made public following a report by Glavkom. Terekhova’s lawyer submitted the motion to the court in early February 2024. The previously frozen assets amount to:

• 49,000 euros,
• 10,500 U.S. dollars,
• 200,000 Ukrainian hryvnias.

The cash was stored in a safe alongside Terekhova’s personal belongings. Law enforcement had classified these funds as material evidence in a case involving treason and illicit enrichment against Andriy Derkach, who fled to Russia shortly after the full-scale invasion began and was later awarded the title of Hero of Russia.

Current Status of the Derkach Case

The pre-trial investigation into Derkach has concluded, and the court is now reviewing the indictment against him. In April 2024, Judge Bityuk initially upheld the seizure. However, the prosecutor from the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (SAPO) did not oppose the motion to lift the freeze, since the confiscated money was never entered into evidence. The court ruled that the funds no longer meet the criteria outlined in Article 98 of the Criminal Procedure Code and thus lack probative value.

Derkach and Terekhova divorced in February 2020. During the search of her apartment, authorities also discovered personal items and documents belonging to Derkach, including:

• photographs,
• his official parliamentary ID,
• employment record book,
• autobiographies,
• military ID,
• awards certificate,
• foreign passports.

The safe also contained the original lease agreement for an individual bank safe deposit box, signed between Derkach and the bank on May 22, 2017.

Since December 2023, the High Anti-Corruption Court has been hearing Derkach’s case on charges of high treason and illegal enrichment. In late June 2022, the Security Service of Ukraine announced it had uncovered an intelligence network operated by the Main Directorate of the Russian General Staff. Derkach was allegedly recruited by Russian military intelligence leadership in 2016 and received $3–4 million every few months from Russia. Investigators estimate his total compensation from 2019 to 2022 at $567,000. The network was reportedly led by Igor Kostyukov, with Vladimir Alekseyev as his first deputy.

Judge Bityuk noted that Terekhova’s representative did not present any new evidence that had not already been examined by the court, nor anything that could challenge the justification for the initial seizure. After reviewing all prosecution evidence during the trial, the court concluded that the cash currently holds no evidentiary significance in the criminal proceedings.

The lifting of the asset freeze underscores the importance of adhering to procedural rules in criminal cases. The prosecutor’s failure to use the confiscated funds as evidence led to the loss of their probative value, which could influence the trajectory of the case against Andriy Derkach. As court hearings continue, observers and analysts will closely monitor developments in this high-profile case, which carries substantial weight in Ukraine’s fight against corruption and state-sponsored crimes.

As the legal proceedings surrounding Andriy Derkach continue to unfold, it is important to stay informed about similar cases in Ukraine's anti-corruption landscape. Recently, the Anti-Corruption Court set bail for defendants involved in a different high-profile case, which highlights the ongoing challenges in addressing corruption in the country. For further details on this matter, you can read more about the bail conditions established for the defendants.