SBU blocked the scheme of systematic reception of illegal benefit by the officials of the “Airport-Kherson” customs post of the Black Sea Customs.

According to the investigation, customs officers have established a mechanism of money extortion from entrepreneurs who are engaged in the import of consumer goods from one of the Middle East countries. For different amounts of bribes officials “closed eyes" to possible violations by businessmen of established norms of import in Ukraine of foreign goods. Thus, the officials minimized the amount of compulsory payments during the import control of goods that caused losses to the state budget.

According to the intelligence, the "tariff" depended on the cost of baggage and amounted from USD 300 to USD 500 per person. According to preliminary data, per shift the amount of received by involved persons illegal benefit comprised up to USD 4 thousand.

Law enforcement officers detained one of the officials, probably involved in the scheme, according to Art. 208 of the Criminal Procedural Code of Ukraine after receiving the next bribe. The issue of serving to the detainee a notice of suspicion of committing the crime is being decided. Within the framework of initiated criminal proceedings under Part 3 Art. 368 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine the investigations are under way in order to bring to liability all persons, involved into the illegal activity. The operation was conducted with the investigators of the State Bureau of Investigations Territorial Administration in Melitopol city under the procedural supervision of the the Prosecutor's Office of Zaporizzhya region.