Inspector of military academy arrested for bribery in Odesa

In Odesa, a court has taken into custody an inspector of a military academy suspected of involvement in a scheme to avoid mobilization. The man allegedly guaranteed removal from the wanted list and a deferral from service.

This is evidenced by the decision of the Peresypskyi District Court of Odesa.

The court imposed a pre-trial restraint in the form of detention on a military academy employee suspected of involvement in organizing a scheme to avoid mobilization.

At the time of the crime, he held the position of an inspector for military registration and reservation. The investigation believes that he, along with four accomplices, demanded and received bribes in installments of more than USD 12,000 and UAH 20,000.

According to the investigation, the suspect promised the man, who was wanted for evading mobilization, to solve the problem of removing him from the wanted list, arranging care for his mother with special needs, and granting a deferral from the draft. The money was handed over in installments - in cafes, car dealerships at Pivdennyi Market, and near administrative buildings. All stages were recorded, and the documents and funds were passed along the chain to the defendants, including the inspector of the military academy.

On July 25, law enforcement officers served him with a notice of suspicion of committing a criminal offense under Part 2 of Article 28, Part 3 of Article 369-2 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine - obtaining an undue advantage to influence the decisions of public officials, committed by a group of persons by prior conspiracy.

The court partially granted the SBI investigator's motion. The suspect was taken into custody for 60 days with the right to be released on bail in the amount of UAH 908,400. If bail is granted, he will be subject to a number of obligations, including not leaving Odesa region, not changing his place of residence without permission, surrendering his passports, not contacting other suspects, and reporting to the investigator every Wednesday.

SBI investigators also served a notice of suspicion to an inspector of the Prymorskyi district TCC, who was also found to be involved in a scheme to illegally obtain a deferment from service. An employee of the Defense Ministry's Support Center and two of his accomplices were also suspected. According to the investigation, they offered men who were trying to avoid the draft to be removed from the military register for 12-16 thousand US dollars.

Анна Бальчінос