The SSU has exposed the unlawful activity of the Deputy Head of Odesa Regional Military Administration.

In exchange for money, the official offered the chief of one of the units of the Administration his ‘assistance’ in evading criminal responsibility for misappropriating state property.

For USD 35,000, he promised to solve the issue of closing the proceeding on his subordinate.

To do this, he was supposedly going to use personal connections in Ukrainian law enforcement agencies.

The SSU documented the fact of handing over of an ‘advance payment’ of USD 27,000 to the official.

The SSU detained the suspect in the administrative building of the Regional State Administration when he handed over the money to his driver.

During the searches at the suspect’s home and car, the SSU found:

• USD 45,000;
• EUR 21,000;
• gold bars and coins.

The detainee was served a notice of suspicion under the two Articles of the CCU:

• 190.4 (misappropriation of property by abuse of trust (fraud), committed on a large scale);
• 15.2, 27.4, 369.3 (completed attempt to incite to give an illegal benefit to an official who holds a responsible position, for the commission by an official in the interests of the person who provides such a benefit of any action using his official position).

Court is to decide on a measure of restraint.

Operational and investigative activities are ongoing to establish all the circumstances of the offence and bring the offenders to prosecution.

The operation was carried out by the SSU Office in Odesa region under the procedural supervision of the regional Prosecutor’s Office.

According to Article 62 of the Constitution of Ukraine, a person is presumed innocent of a crime and cannot be subject to criminal punishment until their guilt is proven in line with the procedure defined by law and established by a relevant court’s verdict.