Today, law enforcement officers detained Colonel Ihor Brika, deputy head of the Security Service of Ukraine department in the Rivne region, while accepting a bribe of $620,000. This was reported by People's Deputy Oleksiy Honcharenko.
According to the deputy, this involves an illegal gain of $620,000.
«"Today, the deputy head of the SBU in the Rivne region, Colonel I. Brika, was detained while receiving a bribe in the amount of 620 thousand dollars," wrote Oleksiy Honcharenko.
According to the deputy, money was demanded for assistance in obtaining permits related to amber mining.
"According to information from my sources, the bribe was demanded for obtaining permits related to amber mining ," said Honcharenko.
Later, details emerged about a large-scale scheme that was dismantled by the SBU's internal security. According to sources, law enforcement officers exposed a system of extorting money from entrepreneurs engaged in amber mining in the Rivne region.
Two SBU colonels and their intermediary were detained "red-handed.".
Among those detained:
Oleh Tokarchuk — Deputy Head of the SBU in Kyiv and Kyiv Region.
Ihor Brika — Deputy Head of the SBU in Rivne Region.
Andriy Avdievsky — the intermediary and so-called “cashier” of the scheme.
The deputy head of the investigative department of the SBU of Kyiv and the region, O. Yakobchuk, was also detained.
According to the investigation, the defendants demanded $620,000 for the closure of criminal proceedings against the Amber Galbin group of companies.
In addition, according to sources, amber miners were demanded regular payments for the opportunity to work peacefully. This was about $400 per day for each pump used during amber extraction.
Official law enforcement agencies have not publicly commented on the details of the case so far. The circumstances surrounding the organization of the scheme and the possible involvement of other individuals are being established by the investigation.
Rivne region traditionally remains one of the key regions for amber mining in Ukraine, where for many years numerous corruption schemes related to illegal and semi-legal mining of this stone have been recorded.
