Former head of the Ukrtransbezpeka department in Kyiv convicted of bribery
Former acting head of the Northern Interregional Department of Ukrtransbezpeka, Ihor Sabadash, was convicted of bribery.
The editorial office of 368.media learned about this from the verdict of the Holosiivskyi District Court of Kyiv under Part 4 of Article 368 of the Criminal Code.
The man also held the position of head of the department of state control over transport safety in the city of Kyiv of the Northern Interregional Department of Ukrtransbezpeka.
In March 2021, the official began regularly checking the same carrier. The driver of the route from the Pochaina metro station to the city of Vyshgorod (KenPak LLC) did not have a route passport. The carrier claimed that this was an irregular passenger service, they delivered employees to the enterprise and therefore a route passport was not required.
From the end of March until the beginning of April, the official inspected the bus almost every day (four times), found the same violations, but did not draw up an inspection report. He left the driver his phone number so that the owner would call him back.
The businessman allegedly agreed to pay $50 a month for four buses so that they would not be inspected. He then claimed that he had given the Ukrtransbezpeka representative $200. But he did not like the behavior of the official, who constantly boasted about what acts he would issue and what the fines would be, so he contacted law enforcement.
In June 2021, as part of the control over the commission of the crime, the businessman gave the accused $200 and about a week later, another $500 for not checking 15 buses.
At the court hearing, Sabadash pleaded not guilty and asked to be acquitted, although he did not actually deny receiving the funds. He said that he had arranged several inspection raids to confirm the regularity of the transportation. And then the entrepreneur allegedly provoked him and he was tempted. In addition, the man promised him information about the illegal activities of other carriers. He had not received money from him before.
Given the discrepancies in the documents and testimonies of the accused and witnesses, the court did not establish what mode of passenger transportation the entrepreneur had, but this was not the subject of the trial. Meanwhile, the court believes that the accused could have used such discrepancies to create artificial obstacles in entrepreneurial activity by starting to check the same carrier. The official created conditions when the entrepreneur had to contact him and negotiate. The court also takes into account the fact that he left his phone number with the driver so that he could pass it on to the owner of the bus, initiating their contact.
The content of the conversations indicates that there was a certain level of friendly relations between the accused and the applicant. The official talks about his inspections of carriers in Boyarka and what he can do if the carrier does not want to negotiate with him. He asked the entrepreneur if he had competitors, offered the service of "taking down a competitor." The court rejected the defense's arguments regarding the provocation of a bribe.
Sabadash was sentenced to 5 years and 6 months in prison with confiscation of property. Additionally, he was banned from holding positions related to the performance of organizational and administrative functions for a period of 3 years
The accused remains at large for now, as the verdict has not yet entered into legal force and can be appealed.
