The State Bureau of Investigation has caught two ESBU employees taking bribes
Officers from the State Bureau of Investigations, in collaboration with the Security Service of Ukraine, have exposed two employees of the Economic Security Bureau of Ukraine who are suspected of using their official positions to accept bribes.
The SBI reported that two separate criminal proceedings are involved.
In the first case, law enforcement officers exposed a senior detective from the territorial office of the Economic Security Bureau in the Kyiv region. According to the investigation, he demanded US$15,000 from a man who was a defendant in criminal proceedings concerning the manufacture, import and distribution of counterfeit money.
The investigation believes that the detective convinced the man that there was sufficient evidence to bring him to criminal liability again and emphasised that, due to his previous conviction, this could result in detention and actual imprisonment. In exchange for 15,000 US dollars, he promised not to bring the man to justice.
To arrange the meetings, according to the State Bureau of Investigation (SBI), the detective sent summonses purportedly for investigative procedures. Law enforcement officers documented his receipt of 10,000 US dollars.
In another criminal case, SBI officers exposed an ESBU analyst. According to the investigation, he was approached by a representative of a company that had been refused a licence to store fuel for its own consumption or industrial processing.
The investigation established that the ESBU employee, who had previously worked in the tax authorities, offered to help with the resubmission of documents. In exchange for a bribe, he promised to influence officials at the tax authority to secure a favourable decision.
After the documents were resubmitted, the company received the licence. Subsequently, the ESBU employee informed the company representative that she had to pay him 2,000 US dollars for such ‘influence’.
The senior detective and ESBU analyst were detained on suspicion of committing corruption offences.
The senior detective is charged with receiving an unlawful benefit by a public official in a position of responsibility, on a large scale, under Part 3 of Article 368 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine.
The ESBU analyst is charged with receiving an unlawful benefit for himself for influencing the decision-making of a person authorised to perform state functions, under Part 3 of Article 369-2 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine.
Notices of suspicion and applications to the court for the imposition of preventive measures are currently being prepared.
The Office of the Prosecutor General is overseeing the proceedings in these cases.
