The Holosiivskyi District Court of Kyiv has sentenced former employee of the Bureau of Economic Security Vitaliy Chernenko, who demanded $700,000 from a businessman under the guise of "solving" a criminal case. According to the investigation, in May 2024, Chernenko learned about the investigation into Premium Finance LLC for tax evasion of over 56 million hryvnias.
Using his old connections in law enforcement agencies, the former BEB employee suggested that the company's founder "resolve the issue" by bribing influential officials. At first, he announced an amount of $5,000, but later the "appetites" increased to $700,000. To begin with, Chernenko demanded an advance payment of $100,000. During the meetings, he simulated active work, demonstrating alleged correspondence with influential people and talking about a parallel investigation by the State Bureau of Investigation.
At the trial, Vitaliy Chernenko fully admitted his guilt and repented. The court took into account sincere remorse, the presence of a minor child in his care, the absence of previous convictions, and the fact that the crime had not been completed. He was sentenced to 5 years in prison, but was released from serving it with a probationary period of 3 years.
In addition, the court canceled the seizure of Chernenko's property - a land plot and a Subaru Tribeca car, and returned the deposited deposit of almost 900 thousand hryvnias to the pledgers.
