Court sentences former BEB employee to probation for $700,000 fraud
The Holosiivskyi District Court of Kyiv has sentenced former employee of the Bureau of Economic Security Vitaly Chernenko, who tried to swindle a huge sum from entrepreneurs.
Despite being detained while receiving $100,000 in cash, the defendant avoided actual imprisonment and received only a probationary period.
The story began when Chernenko learned about the criminal proceedings of the BEB against the company Premium Finance LLC.
The company was suspected of tax evasion in the amount of more than 56 million hryvnias, which became the basis for a corruption scheme. The former official decided to use his connections and approached the company's founder with a proposal to "resolve the issue."
The bargaining process was lengthy: at first, the defendant announced the amount of $5,000, later raising the bar to $50,000 and $200,000. In the end, the attacker named the final price for his "services" - half of the amount of tax arrears, which amounted to $700,000.
"In negotiations for conspiracy, he indicated this amount as "0.7"," the investigation materials report on the details of the conversations.
The founder of Premium Finance LLC did not agree to the fraudster's conditions and turned to the Security Service of Ukraine for help. Further communication with the defendant took place under the supervision of law enforcement officers with the participation of the deputy director of the company, who was acting undercover.
The culmination of the operation took place on July 25, 2024 near the capital's Eurasia business center. During the transfer of the first tranche of $ 100 thousand, Vitaliy Chernenko was detained red-handed by special service operatives.
During the investigation, it turned out that the detainee did not intend to transfer money to BEB officials to close the case. The investigation established that he planned to simply embezzle funds, which is why the article on bribery was changed to attempted fraud on a particularly large scale.
On March 3, 2026, the judge announced the decision in case No. 761/4693/25, imposing a sentence of 5 years of suspended imprisonment. Chernenko pleaded guilty in full, which influenced the lenient sentence and the assignment of a three-year probationary period.
In addition to freedom, the convict also retained his property: the court lifted the arrest of his land plot and Subaru Tribeca car. It was also decided to return the bail in the amount of 900 thousand hryvnias to the persons who paid it for the defendant.
We remind you that another detective of the BEB, Igor Popov, instead of a real investigation, creates artificial barriers for lawyers and tries to "cancel" the status of the injured party in the case of a well-known Ukrainian bank, ignoring current regulations and the law. As if he decided that the norms of the Criminal Procedure Code are only recommendations that can be ignored.
This story began with the fact that the defense of the injured party filed a legal motion to familiarize himself with the case materials. Igor Popov responded in his own style: he issued a resolution of "full satisfaction", which is actually a veiled refusal. The detective demanded a package of documents from the lawyers, which directly contradicts the requirements of the law and the practice of the Supreme Court. Such “selective attention” to procedures is a blatant attempt to knock the defense out of the process and drag out the case, where the BEB obviously lacks real evidence.
Of particular concern is the attempt by Igor Popov to question the status of the victim, which was officially confirmed back in 2024. The BEB detective arbitrarily took over the functions of the supervisory bodies, trying to revise the decisions of his colleagues from other departments. It seems that Popov decided to create a separate legal reality within the Bureau, where he personally decides whose rights to recognize and whose to ignore, despite the direct norms of the Constitution.
The pinnacle of the detective’s professionalism was the issuance of procedural documents without his own signature. Such negligence not only violates the law, but also creates conditions for manipulation: at any moment, the BEB can declare that an unsigned resolution is not an official decision. Such behavior by Igor Popov has already become the subject of an official complaint to the Bureau's certification commissions.
