Frenchman Convicted of Fraud Schemes Remains in Custody in Ukraine

The Chernivtsi Court of Appeal considered the appeal against the ruling of the investigating judge of the Shevchenkivskyi District Court of Chernivtsi regarding the application of extradition arrest to a citizen of the French Republic, who is wanted by the competent authorities of that country for the execution of a court sentence.

Circumstances of Case No. 727/6804/26

According to the case materials, the man was detained in Chernivtsi at the end of April 2026 after it was established that he was on the international wanted list according to the records of the Interpol General Secretariat. According to materials provided by the competent authorities of the French Republic, the person was sentenced to 2 years imprisonment for crimes under the Commercial and Criminal Codes of the French Republic related to repeated abuse of trust, as well as illegal management activities contrary to court prohibitions.

Previously, by the ruling of the investigating judge of the Sadgirskiy District Court of Chernivtsi, which was left unchanged by the Chernivtsi Court of Appeal, a temporary arrest was applied to the foreigner for 20 days – until the official extradition request from the competent authorities of the French Republic was received. After the Ministry of Justice of Ukraine received the official request for extradition to execute the court sentence, the Chernivtsi Regional Prosecutor's Office was instructed to conduct an extradition check and take measures for the further detention of the person.

The defense opposed the application of extradition arrest and requested to deny the prosecutor's motion, citing, in particular, the absence of a proper extradition request, the health condition of the French citizen, and the possibility of applying a milder preventive measure.

The appellate court examined the arguments of the appeal, the materials of the extradition check, and the circumstances that formed the basis for applying the preventive measure.

Court Decision

The court concluded that the request from the competent authorities of the French Republic for the extradition of the person is valid and properly confirmed, and the defense's arguments about its absence are refuted by the case materials. The court also took into account that the acts attributed to the person are extraditable and under Ukrainian law correspond to criminal offenses under Part 5 of Article 190 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (fraud on a particularly large scale) and Part 3 of Article 382 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (deliberate non-execution of a court decision).

Furthermore, the appellate court noted that extradition arrest is applied exclusively to ensure the procedure of handing over the person to another state and their actual transfer to competent authorities, not to resolve the issue of the person's guilt in committing a criminal offense. The court also considered that the case materials do not confirm the presence of circumstances that would make detention impossible or indicate the advisability of applying a milder preventive measure.

As a result of the appellate review, the defense's appeal was dismissed, and the ruling of the investigating judge of the court of first instance on the application of extradition arrest was left unchanged.

The ruling of the appellate court comes into legal force from the moment of its announcement and is not subject to cassation appeal.

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