Law enforcement officials have exposed Kherson civil servants who were taking a 10% kickback from businesses
Police investigators in the Mykolaiv region, in cooperation with the Security Service of Ukraine, detained two officials from a state institution in the city of Kherson while they were receiving an unlawful benefit.
The head of the housing maintenance department and the head of the operational funds department systematically demanded money from a private entrepreneur amounting to 10% of the total value of the contracts signed in exchange for unimpeded performance of repair work.
The suspects in the criminal case were detained immediately after the agreed-upon sum was handed over, and they now face up to 10 years in prison with confiscation of property.
Investigators from the Investigative Department of the Regional Police Headquarters, with operational support from the Security Service of Ukraine in the Kherson region and under the procedural guidance of the Specialized Prosecutor’s Office for Defense in the Southern Region, uncovered and halted the criminals’ activities.
During the pre-trial investigation, law enforcement officials established that the two officials had repeatedly demanded a 10% “kickback” from the contractor—who was carrying out repair and restoration work—based on the amount of each contract signed.
The corrupt officials created conditions under which the contractor was forced to hand over a portion of his profits in exchange for the signing of certificates of completion and winning future government tenders.
The suspects’ criminal scheme was based on complete control over the financial flows allocated by the state for infrastructure restoration.
In May of this year, the officials ensured the company’s victory in a tender for repair work, agreed on the terms of the future contract, and after it was signed for 205 thousand hryvnias, they again demanded an unlawful benefit.
Initially, they demanded 10 percent of the contract value, but later specified a concrete amount—20,000 hryvnias.
This was reported by the Mykolaiv Regional Police.
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