In collaboration with the State Bureau of Investigations and the Office of the Prosecutor General, the Security Service has exposed a lawyer who solicited USD 5 million to assist in the ‘closure’ of criminal proceedings.

According to the investigation, he offered to ‘resolve the matter’ with the law enforcement agencies on behalf of a person implicated in a case involving fraud, document forgery and money laundering.

In exchange for the bribe, the lawyer promised the suspect, who is currently abroad, that he would use his connections and influence to halt the criminal prosecution.

The lawyer also guaranteed that the suspect would not be held accountable in future, would not be placed on an international wanted list and that no information about them would be passed on to Interpol.

Furthermore, he promised to prevent the suspect’s bank accounts and assets from being frozen in return for the payment.

The SSU detained the lawyer at a bank in the Pechersk district of Kyiv while he was receiving an advance payment of USD 3.8 million.

To conceal the transfer of funds, the suspect had arranged for the financial institution to provide the amount in cash. The plan was to exchange the money for different banknotes immediately after receiving it, making it more difficult to document the crime.

The detainee has now been served with a notice of suspicion under Article 369-2.3 of the CCU – abuse of influence.

He faces up to eight years’ imprisonment with confiscation of property.

The investigation is ongoing to establish all the circumstances of the offence and to identify any other individuals who may be involved.

The operation was carried out by the SSU Office in Kyiv and the Kyiv region jointly with the State Bureau of Investigation under the procedural supervision of the Prosecutor General’s Office.