The Rada proposes to verify the origin of funds for collateral: a new bill has been introduced

The Verkhovna Rada has registered a bill that proposes to significantly change the rules for posting bail in criminal proceedings. The document provides for a mandatory verification of the origin of funds posted as bail, and also introduces financial control mechanisms to prevent the use of money of dubious origin.

This was reported by MP Yaroslav Zheleznyak.

Why are the rules proposed to be changed

According to the parliamentarian, the initiative was a reaction to a number of high-profile criminal proceedings in which multi-million bails for suspects, in particular in corruption crimes, were paid by little-known companies or legal entities with unclear sources of funding.

According to the author of the bill, bail should remain a procedural mechanism to ensure the proper behavior of a suspect, and not a way to release him from custody at the expense of funds whose legality of origin has not been confirmed.

What the bill proposes

The document provides for a number of innovations.

In particular, it is proposed to:

introduce mandatory verification of the origin of funds for all collateral, regardless of their size;
grant the court the right to suspend the crediting of collateral until the completion of such verification;
in case of failure to confirm the legality of the origin of funds, confiscate them to the state revenue.
Information about pledgors will become public

A separate block of legislative changes concerns increasing the transparency of the procedure for depositing collateral.

It is assumed that information about individuals and legal entities paying collateral will become public. According to the authors of the draft law, such information should be published by the State Judicial Administration of Ukraine.

It is expected that this will minimize the use of fictitious companies or front persons to deposit significant amounts of collateral.

Collateral will not be canceled

Yaroslav Zheleznyak emphasized that the draft law does not provide for the cancellation of collateral as a preventive measure.

Its purpose is to introduce financial monitoring of the origin of funds, similar to the mechanisms already used by banks when carrying out financial transactions involving significant amounts.

If the bill is passed, the new rules could significantly strengthen control over the sources of funds used to deposit bail in criminal proceedings, primarily in cases involving corruption offenses.