In Odesa, the head of the district election commission was taken into custody

In Odesa, the head of the district Tax and Customs Office and Specialized Police Unit, who is suspected of extorting a bribe, was arrested and suspended from his post.

This isaccording to a ruling by the Kyiv District Court of Odesa.

According to the investigation, in July, the head of one of the departments of the Odesa Territorial Military Registration and Enlistment Office, a major, demanded during a meeting with the deputy director of a critical infrastructure enterprise that he be provided with vouchers for 1,000 liters of diesel fuel. In exchange, he allegedly promised to remove a conscript from the wanted list in the “Oberig” electronic system, not to mobilize him , and not to re-list him as wanted after he paid an administrative fine via the “Reserve+” app . 

This was supposed to allow the man to find employment and secure a position at a branch of Olsids Black Sea LLC, an oil extraction plant. According to investigators, the official also warned that if the man refused, he could be mobilized. During a subsequent meeting, the major allegedly reduced his demand to 500 liters of diesel fuel.

According to the case file, by the end of July, the complainant was already operating under the supervision of law enforcement. He received the diesel fuel vouchers and arrived at the TCC to hand them over to the major. However, the major called to say he was not there and ordered the applicant to hand the vouchers over to another employee. After the vouchers were handed over, law enforcement officers detained the head of the TCC. The total value of the vouchers received was 44,950 hryvnias.

The prosecutor requested that bail be set at nearly 3 million hryvnias, but the judge concluded that bail of 599,000 hryvnias would be sufficient. In a separate ruling, the judge suspended the head of one of the departments of the Odesa TCC and the Joint Venture from his position. The suspect’s last name was not listed in the court registry.

As reported by Intent, the major was detained after one of his subordinates accepted a bribe on his orders. Law enforcement officials stated that the senior officer who collected the vouchers was unaware of his superior’s criminal intent. 

Анна Бальчінос