Officers of the Security Service of Ukraine and the National Police searched the premises of those involved in the proceedings regarding the raider seizure of state property and embezzlement of budget funds in Odesa Region. Investigative actions are being carried out in the office of the local news website Dumskaya.net, but they are not related to journalistic activities, the SBU press service has said.
It is noted that within the framework of this proceeding, the SBU has already served a notice of suspicion to a member of the Odesa regional council, his wife and assistant.
The councilor in question is Mykola Derevyanko, and his wife is Lesya Derevianko.
"In order to establish the circumstances of the crime and bring all the perpetrators to justice, an investigation is underway, a set of investigative actions is being carried out and searches are being conducted in the office premises where the Dumskaya.net media outlet is located. All law enforcement actions are in compliance with the law and in no way relate to the journalistic activities of Dumskaya.net," the SBU stressed.
The editorial office of Dumskaya reported on the searches on Telegram at 12:45. The message noted that employees were not allowed to work, and the work of the editorial office was blocked.
LB.ua's law enforcement sources said that during the investigation, they found correspondence with the owner of Dumskaya on Derevyanko's phone. This man is a possible accomplice of the councilor. According to sources, Derevyanko passed seals to the owner of Dumskaya.
The Derevyanko family is suspected of attempting to appropriate Ukrposhta's premises near the coastal protection zone in the village of Zatoka and illegally alienating farmland with a total area of almost 280 hectares. The SBU reported that the councilor and his wife forged ownership documents and registered the land plot in the names of fictitious persons through a notary under their control. Then they transferred the "re-registered" state property to an affiliated commercial structure. The SBU's prompt response prevented the misappropriation of state property worth tens of millions of hryvnyas.
Mykola and Lesya Derevyanko were arrested. MP Oleksiy Honcharenko (European Solidarity), who is Lesya's second cousin, believes that the harsh measure of restraint may be related to his activities as an MP.