Police officer in Odesa fined for abuse of influence

The Kyiv District Court of Odesa found a former police officer guilty of influence peddling and fined her UAH 34,000.

As stated in the court' s verdict, in March 2024, the convicted woman called a repairman to repair household appliances.

While the repairman was working, he told the owner that he was from Kherson and had been under occupation for a long time, now he was forced to live in Odesa and could not go abroad due to restrictions, and also told her about his father, who is a sailor, has been working for foreign companies for 20 years and has recently been living in Thailand with his family.

After hearing this and realizing that the man could pay, she said that she, as a police officer, had certain connections, due to which she took her son across the state border of Ukraine. After that, she gave the master her personal cell phone number and said that he could contact her in case of any problems.

Later, the policewoman and the master met by chance and had a conversation. During this conversation, the man complained that he was unable to leave. The policewoman then offered to organize his transportation across the border to the European Union in exchange for a monetary reward, offering several options.

The first option was to draw up documentation on his unfitness for military service, the second option was to cross the border outside the checkpoints, and the third option was to cross the border officially at a checkpoint. In the latter case, it was supposed to dress the master in military uniform and transport him and her friend through the Palanca checkpoint to Moldova.

She estimated her services at 25 thousand US dollars. In the end, due to searches in the territorial centers of recruitment and social support and medical and social commissions, they decided to take the man without documents. The policewoman was detained when she was waiting for a client with a bribe. In court, she pleaded guilty and did not deny anything. She sincerely repented of her actions and asked not to be punished severely.

Кирило Бойко