Lawyer detained in Odesa on suspicion of helping men avoid mobilization

Police and the Security Service of Ukraine detained a lawyer and his deputy in Odesa on suspicion of organizing a group that helped men of military age avoid mobilization.

According to the press service of the Main Directorate of the National Police in Odesa Oblast, investigators found that the offenders searched for men of military age who were wanted by territorial recruitment and social support centers and offered services in removing them from the relevant database and formalizing their employment at an Odesa-based critical infrastructure enterprise that reserves its employees.

The law enforcement documented how the offenders carried out one such transaction, which cost the client USD 9.5 thousand. For this amount, the man was removed from the wanted list and booked at the company. The employee did not go to work, only paid his salary to his management every month.

The illegal activity of the dealers was stopped during their next fraud, which cost the serviceman 11 thousand dollars. As soon as the money was handed over, investigators seized it as material evidence. Law enforcement also conducted a series of authorized searches, during which they seized some evidence of the defendants' involvement in illegal activities.

The lawyer and two officials of the company, depending on their actions, were charged with obtaining an undue advantage by an official for the commission by such an official, in the interests of the person providing the undue advantage, of any action using the official position granted to him/her, committed by a group of persons, and obstructing the lawful activities of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and other military formations during a special period, committed by a group of persons.

The maximum penalty, if proven guilty, may be 10 years in prison with disqualification to hold certain positions or engage in certain activities for up to three years, with confiscation of property.

The court imposed on the lawyer and the deputy director of the company detained in accordance with the procedural procedure a measure of restraint in the form of detention without alternative of bail and with the right to post bail in the amount of more than UAH three million, respectively, and put the director of the company on the wanted list.

Кирило Бойко