Criminal organization in Odesa: three deputy mayors notified of suspicion

NABU and SAPO served suspicion notices on three more members of the criminal organization in Odesa, exposed on Dec. 5, 2022.

 

They are:

•   the first deputy mayor of Odesa — Part 3 Article 255, Part 4 Article 368 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine;
•   acting deputy mayor of Odesa - chief of staff of the executive committee of the Odesa City Council — Part 3 Article 255, Part 4 Article 368 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine;
•   deputy mayor of Odesa — Part 3 Article 255, Part 3 Article 368 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine.

Since the whereabouts of the first deputy mayor of Odesa are currently unknown, he was notified of suspicion in absentia (under Article 135, Article 278 of the Criminal Procedure Code of Ukraine).

As established, in the fall of 2021, after NABU and SAPO exposed a criminal organization involved in the misappropriation of public property in Odesa, another one emerged. It took control of almost all spheres of the city's economic life, including interaction with developers and utility companies, procurement procedures, and so forth. To make everything work smoothly, its organizers  systematically bribed the officials and deputies of the local council.

The acting deputy mayor of Odesa - the chief of staff of the executive committee of the Odesa City Council, a member of the land commission, received a monthly remuneration of USD 15 thousand and other funds for acting in the interests of the criminal organization by abusing his official position and power. In particular, he secured the adoption of decisions on allocating land for development purposes to predetermined persons, as well as on making changes to the city budget. In total, from November 2021 to August 2022, the suspect received more than UAH 2.4 million in undue advantage.

Other co-participants - the first deputy and deputy mayor of Odesa - received from March to July 2022 UAH 900,000 and 300,000, respectively. The first deputy mayor, in particular, supervised the activities of subordinate departments and instructed their heads that they should suspend payments for road repairs in the city. This resulted in artificial conditions for the criminal organization to solicit undue benefit from the contractor for the renewal of payments. The suspect, as part of the executive committee, also voted positively for decisions that set tariffs for handling solid household waste in the city and for changes to the budget that corresponded to the interests of the criminal organization.

So far, six people have been notified of suspicion of participation in the criminal organization.

The detectives are establishing other participants in the criminal activity and gathering more evidence.

NABU started investigating the above facts based on their own findings. This is the second criminal organization in Odesa, exposed by NABU and SAPO. The first one was exposed in October 2021 and ceased to exist. The investigation into its activities is at the final stage.

 

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.