Employees of the State Bureau of Investigation, together with the Department of Strategic Investigations of the National Police and the Internal Security Department of the State Penitentiary Service of Ukraine, exposed a large-scale bribery scheme in the probation system.
According to the investigation, the criminal scheme was organized by the director of the Central State Probation Agency of Ukraine. He built a vertical of illegal enrichment through the heads of branches in the regions.
The scheme was documented in the Lviv region. The head of the local branch collected money from subordinates and sent it to the capital in coffee boxes. The so-called "coffee from Lviv" arrived by mail.
To expand the system of collecting "tribute", five more heads of district probation departments were involved. They forced employees to give up part of their bonuses under the threat of reducing payments or other sanctions. In the Lviv region alone, the receipt of more than 75 thousand hryvnias of illegal benefits over several months was documented.
It is currently being checked whether a similar scheme was in effect in other regions of Ukraine.
The director of the central institution and the head of the Lviv branch were notified of suspicion under Part 3 of Article 368 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine - receiving an unlawful benefit by an official occupying a responsible position, repeatedly, by prior conspiracy, combined with extortion. The actions of the heads of district departments are qualified as aiding and abetting.
Over 30 searches were conducted as part of the investigation. Funds were seized from the director of the state institution, which were already identified as a bribe sent by mail.
