A former employee of the National Bank, who 10 years ago allowed the theft of a bag of gold, has escaped punishment

A former employee of the National Bank, who 10 years ago allowed the theft of a bag of gold, has escaped punishment

The Primorsky District Court of Odesa city released a former employee of the National Bank’s Office in the Odesa region from criminal liability due to the expiration of the statute of limitations.

This was reported by the "Court Reporter" with reference to the ruling of October 8.

The defendant worked at the bank as a cash operations sector expert in the cash circulation and cash operations department. He performed tasks related to storing, issuing, and transporting valuables entrusted to him and bore full individual material responsibility for their safety.

On October 1, 2014, on the premises of the "precious metals purchasing point" of the NBU office in the Odesa region, the defendant received 11 gold bars from an unidentified person who presented a Ukrainian citizen’s passport. The purchased gold was checked and cut into 44 pieces using bolt cutters. The employee placed the cut pieces in paper envelopes and prepared documents, valuing the gold, weighing 11 kilograms, at 5.4 million hryvnias.

The paper envelopes with the gold were placed by the defendant into a cloth bag. He then called a guard and a storage employee and went with them to the bank’s basement, where a storage facility was set up.

In the basement, storage employees of the NBU office in the Odesa region opened the bag, checked the number of envelopes and their weight according to the general receipt. After completing the check, the defendant sealed the bag, and it was accepted for storage.

At the end of the working day, the defendant left the bolt cutters, seal press, and stamp in the drawer of his desk, instead of securing them in a safe.

A month and a half later, during the formation of a package to the State Treasury, a shortage in the weight of valuables received from the defendant was discovered. Upon opening the envelopes, it was found that the gold had been replaced.

The bank employee was accused of official negligence, which caused serious consequences for the state’s interests (part 2, Article 367 of the Criminal Code).

From January 29, 2015, to January 26, 2018, the suspect was wanted. In June 2018, the case was transferred to court. However, the court returned the indictment to the prosecutor due to identified deficiencies. The court hearing started in the fall of 2020.

Ten years after the gold theft, the verdict had not yet been passed. Therefore, the defendant and his attorney requested the case to be closed due to the statute of limitations, meaning non-rehabilitating circumstances.

The representative of the National Bank, as the victim, objected, pointing out that the defendant had evaded the investigation.

However, the act is considered a non-serious crime. The limitation period for criminal liability is 5 years from the day of committing such acts.

The court decided to release the defendant from criminal liability due to the expiration of the statute of limitations.

The civil claim from the National Bank of Ukraine’s office in the Odesa region for the recovery of material damages was left without consideration.