The Security Service of Ukraine exposed a chief of patrol police emergency sector of one of the units of the Main Directorate of the National Police in Zhytomyr region on systematical demanding of bribes from timber transporters.

Allegedly, the policeman threatened local businessmen to obstruct the transportation and storing of the timber in case they refuse to pay the “tax”. The sum depended on the number of rounds and the amount of the material in warehouses. Every month policemen received UAH 30,000-50,000 (USD 1,000-1,850) from a businessman.

The SBU officers documented several facts when the suspect received the bribes from five businessmen. Law enforcement detained him according to Article 208 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine in Zhytomyr, when he received the final part of the bribe.

The issue of serving the policeman notice of suspicion of the crime and choosing for him a type of detention is being solved.

The investigative actions to document other facts of suspect’s illicit activity are ongoing within the framework of the criminal proceeding under Part 3 Article 368 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine.

The operation was conducted by the SBU Office in Zhytomyr region jointly with the Territorial Department of the State Bureau of Investigations in Khmelnytskyi city under the supervision of the Military Prosecutor’s Office of Zhytomyr garrison.