SBU detains party leader on suspicion of trading in Rada seats

An SBU officer detained the head of a Ukrainian political party on suspicion of fraud.

According to investigators, despite the fact that in October of this year the court canceled the registration of this political force due to the detected forgery of constituent documents, the suspect traded in passable positions on the party list, promising clients the status of a people's deputy in the next parliamentary elections.

Law enforcement officers detained the politician in a Kyiv restaurant when he received USD 160 thousand, according to the investigation, for including a person in the party. According to the case, among other things, the defendant publicly spread fakes about the Defense Forces and the socio-political situation in Ukraine.

The SBU also alleges that he spread Kremlin narratives about the operational situation at the front and called for the disruption of mobilization. To spread destructive content, the detainee allegedly used his own social media pages with a total of almost half a million subscribers.

During the searches, the SBU found equipment and documents with evidence of fraud. He has now been served a notice of suspicion of fraud committed on a large scale. The court chose custody as a measure of restraint for the politician with an alternative bail of UAH 6 million 725 thousand. He faces up to 12 years in prison with confiscation of property.

The SBU did not say who was detained or which party the politician headed, but representatives of the Garant party said that on November 13, the leader of this particular political force, Valeriy Tokar, was detained. Party members claim that the detention of their leader is related to his criticism of the authorities.

Кирило Бойко