Receipt of illegal benefit by MP: case sent to court
On Aug. 11, 2021, NABU and SAPO filed an indictment with the High Anti-Corruption Court against an MP and his accomplice accused of extorting and taking an illegal benefit. As previously reported, in the summer of 2020, the National Bureau learnt about the existence of an organized criminal group trading legal powers of parliamentarians. To identify all its members and promptly document their activities, NABU launched a special operation involving an undercover Detective.
The undercover Detective acted as a representative of a foreign company. He told a group member about certain investment plans that required the adoption of a number of legislative acts to provide garbage disposal companies with a "green tariff" for electricity sales and other regulations.
The Detective was further introduced to the MP who demanded USD 13,000 for proposing amendments to the draft Law of Ukraine "On Waste Management" and USD 200 thousand for bribing other MPs - members of the relevant Verkhovna Rada Committee.
In early August 2020, the Detective handed over the first tranche of the bribe to the intermediary. On Aug. 26-27, the perpetrators planned to receive other tranches. However, the National Bureau could no longer proceed with the operation as the MP and the intermediary had been informed about being recorded: they subsequently changed their phone numbers and mobile terminals.
The pre-trial investigation into the above facts was launched in August 2020.
As established by expert examinations, all audio and video recordings obtained during the covert investigative (search) actions in the case do not contain signs of editing or forgery, while the voices on these materials belong to the MP and his accomplice.
In September 2020, NABU and SAPO notified the MP of suspicion of taking a bribe and abusing his legal powers (Part 4 Article 368, Part 4 Article 27, Part 4 Article 369 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine). The notice of suspicion was drawn up and signed by the Prosecutor General of Ukraine.
The High Anti-Corruption Court ruled to seize MPs real estate and vehicles as the measure of restraint.
On March 3, 2021, the defense and the suspects were granted access to the case files.
According to Article 62 of the Constitution of Ukraine, a person is considered non-guilty in the commission of a crime and cannot be subject to criminal punishment until he or she is found guilty by court.
Video of Викриття організованого угруповання
According to Article 62 of the Constitution of Ukraine, a person is considered not-guilty in the commission of a crime and cannot be subject to criminal punishment until he or she is found guilty by court.