An official of the Ministry of Defence department, who, together with two accomplices, extorted money from the military for early payment of disability benefits due to injury, was exposed for bribery. All three were served suspicion notices.
This was reported by the Prosecutor General's Office and the SBU.
The head of a department of the Ministry of Defence, together with the head of the financial service of a military unit and a former serviceman of the unit, organised a scheme to receive bribes from wounded soldiers. In exchange for money, they promised to facilitate a decision on the extraordinary payment of their benefits.
Law enforcement officers documented the receipt of over UAH 300,000 by an official of the Ministry of Defence and his accomplices. They were detained while receiving the next tranche of the bribe in the amount of USD 1.9 thousand and UAH 76 thousand.
The issue of choosing a measure of restraint is currently being decided.
Based on the collected evidence, the head of the Ministry of Defence department was served a notice of suspicion under Part 3 of Article 368 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (acceptance of an offer, promise or receipt of an unlawful benefit by an official). The criminal actions of his two accomplices were classified under Part 5 of Art. 27 and Art. 368 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (aiding and abetting in accepting an offer, promise or receipt of an unlawful benefit by an official).
The issue of choosing a type of detention is being decided. The offenders face up to 10 years in prison with confiscation of property.
The pre-trial investigation against the head of a military unit in Odesa region has recently been completed. He extorted a bribe from a serviceman for assistance in establishing his mother's second group of disability.