Crime

The SBU has reported the arrest in Odesa of a local taxi driver suspected of working for the FSB. According to the investigation, he used his work as a taxi driver as a cover to gather intelligence for the Russians on the locations of the city’s defence forces and energy infrastructure.

In Kropyvnytskyi, law enforcement officials have reported the dismantling of an organised gang which, according to the investigation, had been seizing the flats of deceased and solitary individuals. The total amount of damages established stands at 5.7 million hryvnias.

In Zakarpattia, law enforcement officers have arrested a man who was wanted by the US authorities on suspicion of large-scale cybercrime. According to the investigation, he had been hiding in Ukraine under a false name.

Law enforcement officials have reported the exposure of a group of officials at a municipal enterprise in Odessa who organised a scheme to embezzle public funds and register fictitious employees.

The editorial team at UA.NEWS has sent an official request to the Economic Security Bureau of Ukraine regarding the circumstances surrounding a meeting between the agency’s director, Oleksandr Tsivinskyi, and businessman Vyacheslav Lysenko, who is implicated in criminal proceedings.

Law enforcement officers have arrested a 39-year-old man from Zakarpattia who is suspected of organising the illegal departure of men abroad. The arrest took place after he had received payment from one of his clients.

The accommodation booking service Booking.com has been the victim of a cyberattack, as a result of which unauthorised individuals gained access to some user data. The company has stated that no financial information was compromised.

Amid complaints from the director of the Economic Security Bureau about insufficient funding, his deputy, Yuriy Belousov, received a salary of almost 200,000 hryvnias in March. By contrast, his predecessor’s salary averaged 95,000 hryvnias.

Hungary’s Prime Minister-elect, Péter Magyar, has announced his intention to bring the country into the European Public Prosecutor’s Office. This could pave the way for investigations into the use of EU funds in previous years.

MP Maksym Buzhansky stated that the ESBU had failed to demonstrate its effectiveness either in combating economic crime or in the re-certification process, and that it was therefore too early to consider providing additional funding to the agency. He also noted that teachers, doctors and police officers in frontline regions receive significantly lower salaries, yet do not complain about it.

In Kyiv and the surrounding region, law enforcement officers have detained two aides to members of the Ukrainian parliament who are suspected of involvement in schemes to evade conscription. They are charged with fraud on a large scale.

Russian hackers have gained access to more than 170 email accounts belonging to Ukrainian prosecutors and investigators over the past few months. Details of the breach came to light following a leak of information online.