A border guard promised to smuggle a draft dodger across the border in the trunk for $13,000

Law enforcement officers detained a border guard suspected of organizing the illegal transport of conscripts across the state border outside of official checkpoints.

“With the support of the State Border Guard Service leadership and in cooperation with the National Police, State Bureau of Investigation (DBR) officers detained a serviceman from one of the border guard detachments who carries out combat missions, particularly in the eastern and South Slobozhansky directions. He has been notified of the suspicion that he organized the smuggling of conscripts across the border,” the statement reads.

According to the State Bureau of Investigation, the suspect, who presented himself as a “consultant on leaving Ukraine” and distributed his phone number through acquaintances, offered men who had no legal grounds for leaving the country two options for illegally crossing the border: for $7,000, he provided a route and instructions for crossing the border with Romania outside of official checkpoints, and for $13,000, he also promised to transport them in the trunk of a car to the border, bypassing checkpoints.

It is noted that police officers stopped a car carrying one of his “clients” in the Chernivtsi region, 40 km from the border with Romania.

The border guard has been notified that he is suspected of organizing the illegal smuggling of persons across Ukraine’s state border for financial gain (Part 3 of Article 332 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine). The penalty under this article provides for up to 9 years of imprisonment with confiscation of property.

The court ordered him to be held in pretrial detention.

A pretrial investigation is ongoing to identify other possible participants in the scheme.

This was reported by the State Bureau of Investigations.

Video: The State Bureau of Investigations (DBR) and the EU Rule of Law Mission (EU Rule of Law Mission) have launched a campaign against bribery.

Earlier, the Supreme Court upheld an 11-year prison sentence for a former judge from Dnipro on bribery charges.

As a reminder, on September 7, the High Anti-Corruption Court imposed a preventive measure on a member of the Volyn Regional Council who is suspected of receiving an unlawful benefit for facilitating the construction of an apartment building in Lutsk.

A judge from Zakarpattia, convicted of bribery, was released from prison early.

A female officer of the General Staff was detained for accepting a bribe of $14,000.