A customs inspector at the Port of Pivdennyi was caught accepting a bribe to process cargo without waiting in line

It took the court five years to conclude the case involving a bribe for customs clearance of cargo at a port in the Odesa region. Although the inspector was found guilty, he avoided any actual punishment.

This was reported by Intent, citing the verdict of the Black Sea City Court. 

According to the investigation, in February 2021, Yevgen Gaidashenko, a state inspector with Customs Clearance Department No. 4 at “Chornomorsky,” Yevhen Haidashenko, received $500 from a company representative in exchange for expediting the customs clearance of cargo belonging to Ital Machinery LLC, allowing the company to bypass the line, and assisting with correcting deficiencies in the documentation. Immediately after the money was handed over, the customs officer was detained by law enforcement officers.

The investigation began in December 2020 after a company representative contacted law enforcement to report systematic extortion of bribes by customs post employees. During covert investigative operations, law enforcement officers documented several instances of money transfers, both through an intermediary and directly to customs inspectors. The case file included transfers of $300, $600, $650, and $500 to various participants in the scheme.

In court, the defendant did not deny receiving $500, but claimed that he did not demand the money and did not understand exactly why it was given to him. The court did not agree with this position, noting that the evidence gathered indicated that he knowingly accepted an unlawful benefit. At the same time, the court concluded that the investigation had not proven the specific act of soliciting a bribe, which had initially been charged against the official.

Consequently, the customs officer’s actions were reclassified from Part 3 of Article 368 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine to Part 1 of the same article—the acceptance of a bribe by a public official without proving the act of solicitation. The court also acknowledged that during the customs clearance process, the official provided preferential treatment to the declarant by ensuring faster processing of customs procedures and advising on the preparation of documents.

The judge found the inspector guilty and sentenced him to three years’ imprisonment, with a ban on holding positions involving the exercise of public authority. 

However, he was exempted from serving his sentence due to the expiration of the five-year statute of limitations. In addition, Haidashchenko was ordered to pay 14,900 hryvnias in costs for expert examinations.

In May, a customs officer from the Odesa region was fined for extorting bribes from caviar smugglers. In exchange for helping them clear customs quickly, he demanded $100 for every kilogram of imported black caviar.

Анна Бальчінос