Lesya Leshchenko15:08, 03.02.23
In the Chernivtsi region, the head of one of the customs posts was detained, and in the Odessa region – officials of the customs posts “Odessa-port” and “Belgorod-Dnestrovsky”.
At the Chernivtsi and Odessa customs, criminal mechanisms for receiving money from businessmen and volunteers have been eliminated.
This was reported by the press center of the Security Service of Ukraine . In particular, in the Chernivtsi region, the head of one of the local customs posts was exposed on corrupt deals.
“For various amounts of bribes, he” guaranteed “entrepreneurs not to create artificial obstacles in the customs clearance of commercial goods. He involved two acquaintances in illegal activities as intermediaries to obtain illegal benefits. Among them is a former customs officer who had previously been prosecuted for corruption,” – the message says.
As noted, SBU officers documented the transfer of the first part of a bribe in the amount of $3,000 to the attackers for the smooth execution of three customs declarations. Law enforcement officers detained an intermediary in Kyiv for receiving 12 thousand dollars – the second part of the unlawful benefit. For this money, the official promised to arrange for the entrepreneur a wholesale batch of consumer goods without further questions.
It is noted that two defendants – the organizer of the scheme and his henchman – were informed of suspicion under Part 3 of Art. 368 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (acceptance of an offer, promise or receipt of an unlawful benefit by an official).
In the Odessa region, as informed by the SBU, officials of the customs posts “Odessa-port” and “Belgorod-Dnestrovsky” were exposed for organizing transactions.
It is noted that the attackers have set up a corrupt scheme to receive money from volunteers who bring humanitarian aid to Ukraine for Ukrainian defenders.
“For bribes, officials promised carriers not to create artificial obstacles during the customs clearance of goods. The amount of unlawful benefit was from $500 per vehicle. SBU employees documented several episodes of receiving monetary rewards by customs officers. Law enforcement officers detained the chief state inspector of the Odessa-port customs post” on the transfer of the next amount of bribe. Now he has been informed of suspicion under Part 3 of Article 368 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine,” the report says.
In addition, as stated in the SBU, the issue of holding accountable other employees of the management and inspector level of the customs post is being resolved.
Investigations are ongoing in both cases to identify and bring to justice all those responsible.
Corruption in Ukraine – latest news
As UNIAN reported earlier, on February 1, the Cabinet of Ministers dismissed the senior staff of the customs – the acting chairman of the State Customs Service Vyacheslav Demchenko and two of his deputies. New acting head of customs, according to people’s deputy Alexei Goncharenko, will be the current deputy chairman Sergei Zvyagintsev.
According to David Arakhamia, head of the Servant of the People faction in Verkhovna Rada, disciplinary proceedings have been initiated against Deputy Chairman of the State Customs Service Ruslan Cherkassky, and he has been suspended from his duties.
Earlier it was reported that the State Bureau of Investigation exposed crimes at customs in 2022 that caused damage to the state by almost UAH 400 million. In general, employees of the SBI investigated 576 criminal proceedings for crimes in the customs sphere, as a result of which 156 persons were notified of suspicion, and 110 indictments were sent to the court against 119 persons.
(C)UNIAN 2023
Completely despicable behavior, especially in times of war! Hang ’em high!
I bet they were both born in the ruzzia too.