People’s representatives appear in cases of corruption in the field of reconstruction. One of the parliamentarians pays a bribe with bitcoins for the first time in Ukrainian history.
On November 21, detectives from the National Anti-Corruption Bureau conducted a large-scale operation and identified a whole range of corruption schemes in the restoration of infrastructure facilities damaged as a result of Russia’s war against Ukraine.
An interesting point is that among the suspected bribe takers are two well-known sitting MPs. And for the first time in Ukrainian history, cryptocurrency appears as a bribe.
“Scheme” for a billion
In particular, in the morning, law enforcement officers came to find the representative of the people from the Khmelnytsky region, Sergei Labaziuk. He is a prominent parliamentarian and part-time owner of a construction and agricultural business.
According to NABU, the bureau and the specialized prosecutor’s office against corruption, along with other officials, exposed Lobazyuk in an attempt to bribe officials in the field of restoration.
Investigators found out that in August of this year, the deputy turned to a top official of the Ministry of Reconstruction with a request to give his company contracts for the restoration of infrastructure facilities worth one billion hryvnias. For this, Lobazyuk promised a “reward” of 3-5% of the value of each contract, NABU added.
To coordinate additional agreements, the citizen representative also involved the director of the company. After receiving 50 million hryvnias for a contract to restore a destroyed bridge in one of the regions of Ukraine, the parliamentarian, through a proxy, provided the whistleblowing official of the State Reconstruction Agency with the promised interest in the amount 150 thousand dollars.
The transfer of the bribe took place in the parking lot of one of the capital’s supermarkets, and the money was in a Chinese box, NABU said.
Bitcoin bribes
Another participant in today’s NABU special operation is People’s Deputy Andrey Odarchenko. He was elected to the 170th constituency in Kharkov from the Servant of the People party.
An interesting fact is that Odarchenko is a member of the parliamentary Committee on Anti-Corruption Policy and today he was detained while trying to bribe an official with bitcoins.
According to NABU, the representative of the people offered the head of the State Agency for Reconstruction and Infrastructure Development a bribe in Bitcoin cryptocurrency, equivalent to 50 thousand dollars. In exchange for this money, Odarchenko asked for help in obtaining funds from the fund for liquidating the consequences of the armed aggression of the Russian Federation for the repair of infrastructure facilities under his control.
After the funds from the fund were allocated to the crypto-wallet of the whistleblower-official from the State Agency for Reconstruction, the first tranche of the bribe was received in the amount of 10 thousand dollars.
“This is the first illegal benefit in cryptocurrency in the history of anti-corruption authorities that has been documented. Investigative actions are ongoing,” NABU said.
Dozens of apartments in exchange “for a service”
Another scheme of corruption in the restoration sector, exposed by NABU detectives today, is not connected to a deputy, but to the owner of a private company.
As a bribe, he offered a top official from the Ministry of Development of Communities, Territories and Infrastructure real estate in new buildings he built with a total area of more than 5,200 square meters. m with an estimated cost of more than 170 million UAH.
For this, the official has to leave in force the agreements concluded with the company for the construction of a residential complex on the land of the ministry, as well as facilitate the acquisition of permits and necessary approvals. To conceal the commission of a crime, the property must be registered in the name of a trusted representative of a high official.
At the time the crime was exposed, detectives and prosecutors documented the registration of 15 apartments in Kyiv in the name of a trusted person. In addition to the owner of the company, the head of the state-owned enterprise was informed of the suspicion.
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Source: korrespondent
I am David Wyatt, a professional writer and journalist for Buna Times. I specialize in the world section of news coverage, where I bring to light stories and issues that affect us globally. As a graduate of Journalism, I have always had the passion to spread knowledge through writing.