In Ukraine, the organizers of the scheme of levies on exporters of the “grain corridor” were exposed
2.04.2024 - 13:25
The SBI exposed the officials of the State Production and Consumer Service, who organized a multimillion-dollar scheme of extortion from exporters of the “grain corridor”.
The “dealers” earned more than 160,000 US dollars a month from exporters of agricultural products, the State Bureau of Investigation reports.
The corruption scheme was organized by employees of the Main Department of the State Production and Consumer Service in Odesa and Zaporizhzhia regions. They demanded money for the issuance of phytosanitary certificates, which are necessary for the export of agricultural products.
They also demanded money for the production of certificates of inspection results, which are necessary for the export of barley and corn.
“In fact, the officials created an organized criminal group with a clear division of roles and responsibilities. It consisted of more than 11 people, including the head of the State Production and Consumer Service State Administration in Zaporizhzhia region and the head of the Department of Phytosanitary Safety of the State State Production and Consumer Service State Administration in Odesa region,” the message reads.
In particular, it included two chief inspectors of the State Production and Consumer Service in Odesa region and two from Zaporizhzhia region, civilians, including managers of brokerage companies who acted as intermediaries.
During the searches conducted in various regions, more than 100,000 US dollars and 500,000 UAH from illegal activities, 8 luxury cars, notebooks with a list of the distribution of sums among the participants of the scheme, as well as draft records and computer equipment were found and seized , on which the seized documents were produced.
It should be noted that the SBI detained five members of the criminal group and informed them of suspicions of receiving an unlawful demand in a particularly large amount (Part 3 of Article 368 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine).
They also plan to make a decision on announcing suspicions to officials involved in the embezzlement.
We remind you that this is not the first such scheme related to the State Production and Consumer Service. For example, last year the SBU liquidated a corruption scheme related to the “grain agreement”. The participants of the arrangement demanded money from the representatives of the exporting companies. For bribes, they “guaranteed” grain traders the unimpeded receipt of phytosanitary certificates of conformity of their products.
