A court ordered the lawyer in the $110,000 bribery case to be remanded in custody
A court in Kyiv has remanded a lawyer in custody who is suspected of involvement in a large-scale corruption scheme alongside SBU employees. The case involves a bribe of $110,000 to “resolve an issue” related to criminal proceedings. The suspect was allowed to be released on bail of nearly one million hryvnias, but with a number of restrictions. This was reported on Facebook by the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office.
The High Anti-Corruption Court imposed a pretrial detention order on the lawyer. At the same time, the court provided an alternative—posting bail in the amount of 998,400 hryvnias. In addition, the suspect was subject to procedural obligations that he must fulfill if released from custody.
The Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office confirmed this decision and announced it publicly. The case is being investigated as part of a larger corruption scheme involving employees of the Security Service of Ukraine.
According to the investigation, in late April, law enforcement officials exposed three individuals at once—the head of the SBU’s investigative department in Poltava Oblast, his subordinate, and a lawyer. Investigators believe that it was through the lawyer that SBU officers demanded $110,000 from the businessman. In exchange for this money, they allegedly promised to influence the conclusion of a plea agreement in a criminal case involving the supply of equipment to Russia through front companies in Kazakhstan.
The prosecutor’s office classified the actions as receiving an unlawful benefit on an especially large scale and aiding and abetting this crime.
On April 29, all three were formally charged. The SBU officers are charged with receiving an unlawful benefit by a public official, and the lawyer is charged with aiding and abetting this crime. Previously, the court had already imposed preventive measures on other defendants: the SBU investigator was taken into custody with bail set at over 3.9 million hryvnias, and the head of the investigative department was ordered to post bail of 5 million hryvnias.
The case is being considered as part of an anti-corruption investigation examining a possible scheme to extort money in exchange for influencing court decisions. All individuals involved in the case are under procedural control, and the investigation continues.
Earlier in Zaporizhzhia, a doctor and a pharmacist set up a scheme to sell unregistered medications.
Law enforcement dismantled a large-scale distribution network for narcotic vapes and sweets.
In Volyn, a large-scale scheme for the illegal production and sale of fuel was uncovered.
