Officials of village council in Odesa region sent to jail for extortion

In Odesa region, a scheme to extort bribes from a private entrepreneur for work in the field of sanitation was exposed. Officials of the utility company were notified of suspicion and taken into custody.

This was reported by the press service of the National Police in Odesa region.

According to the investigation, the officials demanded monthly payments from the entrepreneur for the opportunity to work unhindered in the field of sanitation services.

The investigation established that a private entrepreneur engaged in sewage system cleaning and a municipal enterprise of one of the village councils of Odesa district signed an agreement for the acceptance of wastewater from sewage trucks. After that, the management of the utility company began to demand regular kickbacks from him, the amount of which depended on the entrepreneur's income.

The entrepreneur turned to law enforcement and reported the illegal actions of the officials. Investigators of the regional police, together with the SBU, documented the fact of extortion and receipt of bribes over two months totaling UAH 145 thousand.

After the money was transferred, law enforcement officers stopped the illegal activities of the officials and seized the funds as material evidence.

Based on the collected materials, the investigators served the officials with a notice of suspicion of extortion and receipt of illegal benefit by a group of persons by prior conspiracy, using their official position. This article provides for a sentence of up to ten years in prison with confiscation of property.

The court imposed a pre-trial restraint on the suspects in the form of detention with the possibility of bail in the amount of UAH 266,240.

At the end of February, the BES served a notice of suspicion to seven participants in a scheme to misappropriate funds from the Odesa local budget during the purchase of traffic lights. The organizer and his accomplices inflated prices through controlled companies and created discriminatory conditions for other bidders.

Seven suspects were served with suspicion notices: the organizer of the scheme, the director of the institution, heads of enterprises, a lawyer and a procurement specialist.

Анна Бальчінос