Corruption at customs: сase sent to court

The National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) and the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor`s Office (SAPO) issued an indictment against six persons involved in fraud with customs clearance of goods imported into Ukraine, as a result of which the state suffered UAH 63.8 million in losses.

The accused are:

• a person whom the prosecution sees as the crime boss;
• the acting head of one of the regional customs offices;
• the former director of the Customs Payments Department of the State Fiscal Service;
• 3 representatives of commercial companies.

The actions of all the accused fall under Part 1 Article 255, Part 3 Article 212, Part 2 Article 364 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine ("Abuse of power or official position"). This is one of the episodes of corruption at the customs, which NABU investigates. The total amount of losses in all episodes reaches some UAH 500 million, with 11 persons being suspects. Materials related to five of them are taken into a separate proceeding, the investigation of which is ongoing.

As part of the case, opened in September 2017 at the initiative of NABU and SAPO, over UAH 450 million was seized from companies involved in the scheme. Subsequently, in December 2017, the ultimate beneficiary of the mentioned companies offered an undue advantage in the amount of USD 800,000 to the Detectives for stopping the investigation and closing the criminal proceedings. Instead, he was exposed red-handed and faced trial at the Pechersk District Court of Kyiv in July 2018.

In November 2019, NABU and SAPO notified the scheme's organizer and seven customs officials of suspicion. In November 2020, the investigation was completed.

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