Former head of village in Odesa region convicted of bribery

The Dobroslavsky District Court of Odesa Oblast has found Olena Dumanska, the former head of the Oleksandrivka village council, guilty of corruption.

The court's verdict states that the official demanded and received a bribe of UAH 67,000 from a contractor's representative for approving design estimates and signing certificates of completion for the repair of the water supply network in the village. The investigation documented that initially the amount was UAH 84 thousand, but the official received part of the money in stages.

The court classified the defendant's actions as obtaining an undue advantage by an official for committing acts of abuse of office. The verdict states that her guilt was fully proven by the evidence collected, including witness testimony and material evidence of the transfer of funds.

The defense, meanwhile, tried to convince the court that the money received was allegedly a "debt" and not a bribe. However, the court took into account the circumstances of the transfer and the nature of the contacts between the official and the contractor, concluding that there was an unlawful motive.

Therefore, the former official was sentenced to 3 years in prison with a probationary period of 2 years. In addition, the court ordered Dumanska to reimburse the illegally obtained funds to the state.

Earlier, in Odesa, the court seized the property of Larysa Torbynska, the head of the land commission of the Rozdilnyansky City Council. The official is suspected of taking an $8,000 bribe to facilitate the lease of a land plot.

And in early December, the BES announced new suspicions to Odesa City Council deputy Iryna Kutsenko and six other defendants in the case of embezzlement of budget funds. According to the investigation, more than UAH 7 million was written off to help non-existent patients under social programs, and officials could receive up to 15% of kickbacks.

Олеся Ланцман