On Oct. 5, 2018, the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine and the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office filed an indictment against possible participants in the so-called "Amber" case, including two incumbent MPs, to the Holosiivskyi District Court of Kyiv.
On October 19, 2017, the Detectives of the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) prevented an attempt of Member of Parliament (MP) Boryslav Rosenblat to take abroad materials of the pre-trial investigation of the so-called "amber case". The NABU Detectives also ensured his participation in the court hearing as of prolonging his preventive measure.
What happened? On analyzing social, economic, legislative and regulatory processes in Ukraine, the NABU identified that among spheres that are the most susceptible to top-corruption is extraction and realization of amber on the territory of Rivno, Zhytomyr and Volyn Regions. Clearly these processes have illegal character, and it would be impossible to conduct them without support of representatives of state authorities, including some of the representatives of the Parliament. Having collected the data both from open and confidential sources, electronic databases and keeping in mind possible illegal involvement of law enforcement and controlling agencies, the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine decided to initiate a special operation to disclose a criminal activity of participants of an organized group. The National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine has the right to take such actions according to Article 8 of the Law of Ukraine «On Special Investigative Techniques». Following her cover story, the NABU Detective «Kateryna», acting as a person cooperating with foreign construction company interested in investing in legal extraction and exports of amber, established and developed trustworthy relations with possible participants of illegal operations with amber. «Kateryna» shared with these persons the company's plans to invest funds if the legislation on extraction and export of amber is changed. The longread helps to find out what have happened next...