SBI Speaker Tatyana Sapyan
The State Bureau of Investigation has taken action against corruption at the Ukraine customs once again
The State Bureau of Investigation discovered a large-scale bribery scheme at the Odessa customs, where even generators were not allowed into Ukraine without paying bribes. Customs officers were found to have taken money from anyone transporting goods across the border. This was confirmed by searches of the customs post's administrative building, where SBI employees found several caches of money. In just a few hours, customs inspectors managed to earn over 75,000 hryvnias in bribes. Tatyana Sapyan, Communications Adviser of the SBI, spoke about this on Apostrophe TV Apostrophe TV provided details of the incident and discussed how often such incidents occur during the war.
– What details can you share?
Tatyana Sapyan: – The situation at the Odessa customs is just one of the cases that have led to criminal proceedings being initiated, with crimes and corresponding schemes at the customs already being thwarted. It's possible that these situations could be the basis for a movie, as every criminal case is truly worthy of a film adaptation. The schemes and corruption at the customs never cease to be surprising. Unfortunately, even during wartime.
How often do these things occur? When you hear about incidents during the war, such as power outages at the Odessa customs – where the biggest blackout in Ukraine occurred in the Odessa region – preventing the import of generators, it's astounding. Perhaps many things simply don't make it to the news.
– The receipt of funds into the budget, as the customs contributes to our main financial document, is truly crucial. The bureau is fully aware of this. We have long warned that abuses in this area will be strongly and decisively suppressed.
I’ll tell you a few stories about how circuits work. Just yesterday, the bureau reported that the scheme for importing goods into Ukraine by “empty” trucks was terminated.
What happened? An official at the Yavoriv customs post in the Lviv region allows a truck carrying household appliances, including heating boilers and other items, to pass through, even though the truck is fully loaded. However, the official conceals the goods and makes it appear that the truck is empty. This results in a loss of over 1 million hryvnias to the state budget, and the inspector is suspected of abusing their position. There are two articles of the criminal code, and for such crimes, the perpetrator can be imprisoned for up to 5 years. This incident occurred at the Lviv customs.
Let's consider the Kyiv customs, for instance. There is a story about customs officers who had access to the institution's warehouses, which stored electronics, construction materials, and household goods. They decided that the valuable items should not go to waste and, with the help of accomplices, made fake phones of a popular brand that were indistinguishable from the original ones in appearance and weight. They then replaced the original phones with the fake ones.
As for the construction materials, they simply bought similar bags, filled them with Styrofoam, and returned them to the warehouse. The seized goods were then sold within Ukraine.
The investigation also found that they attempted to trade overseas, but it seems that nothing came of it. Doing such things is already a suspicion of stealing someone else’s property and entering a secure area, which could result in a 12-year jail sentence. The stolen items will still need to be compensated for.
By the way, yesterday we reported that the former head of the Department of Administrative and Economic Activities of the Kyiv Customs and his accomplice were placed in detention.
The other day, officials from the State Bureau of Investigation, the Security Service of Ukraine, and the police arrested a former security department inspector of the Kherson pre-trial detention center. The man immediately supported the invaders and assisted in creating a punitive body. Additionally, a pre-trial investigation has been completed on the former head of the law enforcement agency of the Luhansk region, who started working in the so-called “prosecutor’s office” of the LPR. Furthermore, a traitor who released prisoners from the Kherson pre-trial detention center will face court. Are these detentions the only ones? How much of this kind of work is there in the RBI?
“At this stage, when we have been at war for more than 12 months, we can analyze certain trends. Article 111 became somewhat popular in 2022. Let me remind you that this is treason. This article clearly states that if you commit high treason under martial law, you can face life imprisonment and loss of all property.
But this article of the criminal code also advises citizens… Once again, with your help, I will address those who may be watching us now in the occupied territories, that somehow information will be able to reach them. This article states that if you refuse to cooperate with the enemy, you can avoid responsibility. If you can communicate with government authorities that you are being encouraged to collaborate, you may be exempt from liability.
We can analyze what motivates people. We understand that most collaborators and traitors were found in the territories that were de-occupied. That is, they were temporarily under occupation. We have a lot of work ahead. I would attribute this to the fact that people are given power, experience stunningly rapid career growth, and are paid money. Perhaps this is the largest sum they ever received in their lives. One woman, a tax officer, was detained in the Kharkiv region. If I’m not mistaken, she was paid a reward of 45,000 rubles. She was detained, and she admitted it on camera. I think that the indictment will be in court in the near future. Well, internal beliefs – I put and leave them in third place.
There are now more than 1,300 criminal proceedings in the State Bureau of Investigation alone. At this stage, we know that we are not only detecting, detaining, declaring suspicion, or putting people on the wanted list and checking for possible cooperation with the aggressor state, but pre-trial investigations are already being completed, and the indictments are going to court. Today we have new statistics: 248 indictments are already in court. I hope that 2023 will lead to specific sentences for traitors and collaborators.
Adrian Radchenko
DOSSIER: Sergey Tupalsky: customs schemes of “alfovtsy” under the roof of NABU. PART 1
Vadim Slyusarev: green corridors of Ukrainian smuggling. PART 1
Seyar Kurshutov: the “naked king” of Ukrainian smuggling or an FSB agent? PART 1
Vadim Alperin. “King” of Odessa smuggling
Vladimir Perederiy: the life of a thieving customs officer. PART 1
