A former resident of Chernivtsi will stand trial for a scheme involving the illegal import of iPhones
A former deputy chief of one of the customs posts at the Chernivtsi Customs Office will stand trial for organizing a scheme to illegally import cell phones and other electronic devices into Ukraine while circumventing customs controls.
According to the investigation, in 2025, the official advised business owners on how to conceal the equipment from customs inspection and promised unimpeded passage across the border. From just one business owner alone, he received $10,400 in illicit benefits.
To maintain secrecy, the money was transferred in cash via postal packages or through trusted intermediaries. During one incident, law enforcement officers detained the suspect’s wife, who was attempting to conceal the bribe by hiding the money inside a cardboard toilet paper tube and throwing it out the window.
During searches of the defendant’s residence and at the customs office, authorities seized nearly half a million hryvnias in various currencies, bank cards from foreign banks, and cell phones.
The former official is accused of receiving an unlawful benefit as a public official in a position of responsibility. He faces up to 10 years in prison with confiscation of property.
Source: State Bureau of Investigation (DBR).
As a reminder, law enforcement officials in the Odesa region uncovered the organizer of an illegal scheme to smuggle conscripts abroad. According to police, 147 men were being smuggled out of the country under the guise of sailors.
The Security Service of Ukraine and the National Police have uncovered nine new schemes to evade mobilization in various regions of the country. As part of special operations, 23 organizers of these schemes were detained; they had been helping conscripts, for a fee, to avoid conscription or to illegally leave the country.
