Ukraine. Corrupt practices revealed by the SBU, arrested officials, police officers and a former deacon

In the Odessa Oblast, the SBU detained a port employee in Izmail – a port city on the Danube – and an official of the Danube Qualification Commission of the State Maritime Transport and Inland Navigation Service. In exchange for bribes, they were supposed to arrange for men subject to military service to be allowed to leave Ukraine as navigators of merchant ships. They “helped” their clients pass the exam to obtain the appropriate qualifications.

The cost of such a “service” ranged from PLN 700 to PLN 1.2 thousand. dollars. The amount depended on the client’s wallet and the level of advancement in the skills necessary to navigate vessels. The detainees earned PLN 55,000 this way. dollars (approx. PLN 240,000). They were caught in the act of accepting financial benefits. They are in custody and face up to 10 years in prison.

Also in the Odessa Oblast, the SBU detained a former deacon of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (Moscow Patriarchate), who allowed men subject to military obligation to travel abroad under the guise of a clergyman or someone preparing to become a priest.

The suspect put people on the “list of missionaries” who went abroad on behalf of the head of the eparchy (equivalent to a diocese in the Catholic Church) in order to pursue the interests of the Church. Then he submitted a list to the State Service for Ethnic Policy and Freedom of Speech with well-justified arguments proving the need for false servants of the Church to leave the borders of Ukraine. The cost for a spot on the list was $4,500 and up. The amount depended on the urgency of the trip and the clients’ financial capabilities.

The former deacon managed to send six people abroad in this way. He was caught red-handed and faces up to 9 years in prison and confiscation of his property.

A different method of earning money was chosen by a former officer of the militia dissolved in 2015, which was then replaced by the police. Officers from the Kiev branch of the SBU were on his trail.

In 2009, the man resigned from the service and founded his own detective agency, whose activity was to collect confidential information about people the clients were interested in. This information included residential addresses, car and mobile phone numbers, as well as whether the person had traveled abroad and, if so, which crossing point.

In order to have access to such data, the “detective” involved his friend, an active police officer who had access to law enforcement databases, into the illegal procedure.

The average cost of one “dossier” was the equivalent of at least $200, depending on the amount of information collected. The criminal received payment for the “services” on the account of his close relative. For now, the detective is free and his partner has been suspended from his duties. Both criminals face a penalty of up to 6 years in prison, the SBU informed.