The State Bureau of Investigation has confirmed that searches were conducted in the case against the MP for organising an illegal border crossing by another person.
The SBI press service did not name the MP, but the published photos show that it is Oleksandr Dubinskyy. UP and Hromadske wrote about the searches in the morning, citing sources.
The SBI later published an audio conversation in which the MP told the interlocutor how to leave.
The SBU press service clarified that the searches were conducted at the MP's associates' homes. According to the available data, the MP kept some of the documents necessary for the escape of his "clients" from Ukraine with his former assistant, a deputy of the Kyiv Regional Council of the 8th convocation, as well as with his close relative.
Investigative actions were conducted at the places of work and residence of the persons involved in the scheme. The addresses of the investigative actions included the office of an NGO where the MP's reception was located.
Investigators suspect that the MP organised an illegal mechanism and used a controlled NGO to enter "the right people" into the Shlyakh system, allegedly as volunteers.
The investigation is ongoing to establish all the circumstances of the crime and bring the perpetrators to justice. The sanction of the article provides for a sentence of up to seven years in prison.
"According to the information available to the investigation, the MP, in collusion with other persons, organised the illegal departure abroad of his civilian wife's brother," the SBI said.
According to the investigation, a relative of the MP's partner tried to leave Ukraine for the Republic of Moldova by car through one of the checkpoints.
"As a basis for crossing the state border, he provided documents entered into the Shlyakh system - an extract from the order of the Kyiv RMA on the departure from Ukraine of drivers carrying out transportation for the needs of the Armed Forces and other formations," the SBI added.
He received this permit at the request of the Vyshhorod District Military Administration on the basis of a petition from the NGO MEDIA DEFENCE. The relative himself later testified that he was not aware of the activities of this NGO.
It also turned out that, in fact, the man was supposed to arrive in Chisinău on the MP's instructions, where he was to wait for further instructions to drive the MP's personal luxury car from the Chisinău International Airport car park to Vienna.
The Prosecutor General of Ukraine opened a criminal proceeding on the grounds of a criminal offence under Part 2 of Article 332 of the Criminal Code.
Oleksandr Dubinskyy is already suspected of forging documents for travelling abroad. The information about Dubinskyy's travelling abroad during martial law became known thanks to the information of a soldier, Anton Shvets. He found out that Dubinskyy had received permission from the Ministry of Health to travel abroad, allegedly to accompany his father for treatment for cancer. The permit was valid from the end of June until 10 July, but as of 25 July, Shvets assumed, the MP was not in Ukraine. The MP's girlfriend posted photos with a man with a distinctive tattoo on his leg, similar to Dubinskyy's, on 26 July from Spain.
The investigation found that Dubinskyy's father had both left and returned without the MP's accompaniment. He returned to Ukraine earlier than his son, although the law does not allow an accompanying person to return later.
Upon his return to Ukraine, the MP's home was searched. Subsequently, Dubinskyy was imposed a measure of restraint in the form of a personal commitment with the wearing of an electronic bracelet.