Bank cards seized from Kherson top official for kickbacks

Money via Telegram, contracts with city agencies, and seized equipment - the court decided what could be used as evidence in the case of alleged corruption in Kherson City Council. Part of the property of Kherson department director Ilya Zaruba was arrested, but prosecutors had problems with the arguments regarding cash and documents.

This was reported by Intent with reference to the ruling of the Zavodsky District Court of Mykolaiv.

In Mykolaiv, the court partially granted the prosecutor's request in the case of an alleged corruption scheme in the Kherson City Council. The suspicion concerns Ilya Zaruba, Director of the City Council's Information Technology Department, whom the investigation believes to be involved in receiving bribes for influencing decisions of municipal institutions and local governments.

According to the investigation, the official allegedly extorted money from an individual entrepreneur who provided local networks, Starlink equipment, and e-mail for institutions affiliated with the Kherson City Council. The contracts in question were with the centralized library system, the Department of Culture, two kindergartens, and the executive committee of the city council.

Investigators claim that at the end of January 2026, the official told the entrepreneur that in order to continue cooperation with city structures, it was necessary to transfer funds regularly. According to the proceedings, it was about UAH 2,500 per month for network and Starlink maintenance and UAH 7,000 for email service support. In case of refusal, the entrepreneur risked losing his existing contracts and the opportunity to sign new ones.

After that, a number of contracts were indeed concluded. In particular, contracts for network maintenance and Starlink were awarded to the library system, the culture department, and two preschools. Separately, the executive committee of the Kherson City Council signed a contract to support a global e-mail service worth 96,000 hryvnias.

A separate episode in the case dates back to May 2026. The investigation states that the official reiterated the demand to transfer UAH 24 thousand. According to the case file, the entrepreneur transferred the money through a PrivatBank terminal to a card whose number he received via Telegram.

The official was detained on May 6, and the next day was notified of suspicion of receiving a bribe for influencing decision-making by public officials, combined with extortion.

During the search of the apartment where the suspect's partner lives, law enforcement officers seized mobile phones, laptops, an Apple monoblock, bank cards, a notebook with notes, documents and cash - 80 thousand hryvnias and 50 dollars.

As a result, the judge arrested the electronic equipment, phones, bank cards and notebook, recognizing that these items could be of evidentiary value for the investigation. At the same time, the court refused to arrest the cash and personal documents: prosecutors, according to the judge, did not prove their connection to the criminal proceedings convincingly enough.

As Intent wrote, to conceal the transaction, the money was allegedly transferred to the account of the official's partner.

Анна Бальчінос