The Carthage Case: Former SBU General Duka Has Still Not Received His Full Bail
As of Tuesday morning, the bail of 65 million hryvnias for former high-ranking SBU official Serhiy Duka, a suspect in the “Carthage” case, had not yet been paid in full. This payment serves as an alternative to pretrial detention.
This was reported by the High Anti-Corruption Court in response to a request from the Interfax-Ukraine news agency.
“As of Tuesday morning, the bail for the suspect has been paid in part,” the court noted, without specifying the amount that had already been credited to the High Anti-Corruption Court’s account.
As previously reported, on November 7, the publication “Ukrainska Pravda” , citing sources in the security service, reported that SBU employees were being urged to urgently contribute to a fundraiser for General Serhiy Duka, whom the High Anti-Corruption Court had sent to a pretrial detention center with the option of posting 65 million hryvnias in bail.
On November 6, the High Anti-Corruption Court imposed a preventive measure on Serhiy Duka, the former first deputy head of the Department for the Protection of National Statehood, in the form of 60 days of pretrial detention, with the alternative of posting bail of 65 million hryvnias. In court, the prosecutor requested an alternative bail amount of 100 million hryvnias.
As part of Operation “Carthage,” anti-corruption authorities uncovered a criminal organization whose members had established a systematic scheme to provide illicit benefits to high-ranking law enforcement officials in exchange for allowing fraudulent call centers and other illegal businesses to operate unimpeded. At least 12 people were involved in the criminal organization.
Among the suspects in the case are: First Deputy Head of the Department for the Protection of National Statehood of the Security Service of Ukraine, General Serhiy Duka (“Akim”), who has already been dismissed from his post; Oleksandr Demyanchuk (“Consultant”)—Deputy Head of the Division of the Criminal Investigation Directorate of the Main Directorate of the National Police in Kyiv Oblast; and Volodymyr Tsenov, First Deputy Head of the Department of Strategic Investigations of the National Police of Ukraine (who was remanded in custody by the High Anti-Corruption Court with bail set at 15 million hryvnias), and Vitaliy Rybalko, known as “Boxer” (who was remanded in custody by the High Anti-Corruption Court without the right to post bail).
A video released by anti-corruption agencies featuring materials from the National Security and Defense Council (NSDC) states that the criminal group consisted of: the founder and leader of the group—the three-time convict “Criminal,” the head of the “Khimprom” drug cartel, a Russian citizen known as “The Mexican,” and “Criminal’s” subordinates—“Boxer” and “Pasha.” As emphasized in the video, “Price,” one of the heads of the National Police’s Department of Strategic Investigations, was responsible for covering up the call centers’ activities.
“Akim” is a high-ranking SBU official, a major general, who ensured protection from the scrutiny of his colleagues,” the NABU video states.
This information was reported to the Interfax-Ukraine news agency by the High Anti-Corruption Court (HACC).
Video: Detained SBU General Duka was involved in a traffic accident with Lyashko four years ago.
As a reminder, NABU and the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (SAPO) announced that they had charged five members of a criminal organization that was exposed the day before during Operation “Carthage.” Among the suspects are the group’s organizer and high-ranking officials from the Security Service of Ukraine and the National Police.
Detectives from the National Anti-Corruption Bureau detained General Serhiy Duka, first deputy head of the SBU’s Department for the Protection of National Statehood. The arrest took place as part of the operation to expose the criminal organization known as “Carthage,” whose members systematically paid bribes to high-ranking law enforcement officials to ensure the unimpeded operation of fraudulent call centers.
