An employee of the State Tax Service was detained in Kyiv, who demanded bribes from businesses for conducting “positive” inspections. The chief state inspector of the Central Interregional Department of the State Tax Service was detained while receiving part of a bribe of $20,000.
According to the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU), the official demanded money from the director of a private construction company from Chernihiv for "cancelling" commercial tax obligations. In the event of receiving the sum of $20,000, the tax officer promised the businessman help in avoiding tax fines.
The criminal scheme was uncovered during the receipt of one of the tranches of $13,000. With the assistance of the head of the State Tax Service, Ruslan Kravchenko, law enforcement officers eliminated this corrupt group.
The detained tax official was informed of suspicion under Part 3 of Article 369-2 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine. He may receive a sentence of 8 years in prison with confiscation of property. The investigation is ongoing.
