State Bureau of Investigation detains former Odesa military draft officer

SBI employees, together with prosecutors from the General Prosecutor's Office, arrested the former head of the Odesa Regional Territorial Centre for Recruitment and Social Support.

On Saturday, he was served with a notice of suspicion of illicit enrichment in the amount of hundreds of millions of hryvnias and willful avoidance of service. The former official tried to evade the investigation by using elements of conspiracy - changing phone numbers, cars, location, etc.

The active search lasted for two days, and finally, as a result of extensive operational and investigative measures, he was found and arrested in Kiev.

Taking into account the former military commissar's attempts to hide from justice, SBI officers will ask the court to keep him in custody without the possibility of bail.

As a reminder, the Bureau has collected a large amount of evidence of its own during the pre-trial investigation. However, in order to ensure a full and impartial investigation, media reports were also examined. The materials of the National Agency for the Prevention of Corruption (NAPC), which also found evidence of illicit enrichment of the former military commissar of Odesa in excess of UAH 188 million, will also be examined.

In particular, one of the journalistic investigations revealed that the military commander's mother became the owner of a residential building in Spain worth more than €4 million last year. It also emerged that, in addition to luxury properties abroad, she bought a Mercedes-Benz EQV car for almost UAH 3 million this year.

Later, law enforcement officers found out that the ex-military commander's mother-in-law had also become the owner of an expensive car fleet in recent years, without having sufficient funds of legal origin. It included: Toyota Land Cruiser Prado, Mercedes-Benz G 63 AMG, Toyota Land Cruiser.

The ex-military commissar's wife also purchased another foreign property - an office space in Spain worth EUR 737 thousand, also without having sufficient legally obtained assets and income.

The former military commissar is suspected of

• acquisition by a person authorised to perform state functions of assets whose value is more than six thousand five hundred tax-free minimum incomes of citizens exceeds his or her legitimate income (Article 368-5 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine);
• failure to report for service on time without valid reasons by a serviceman committed under martial law is a criminal offence (part 5 of Article 407 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine);
• evasion of military service duties by deception committed under martial law (Article 409(4) of the Criminal Code of Ukraine).

The sanctions of the articles provide for imprisonment for up to 10 years.

The investigation is ongoing.

In May, the State Bureau of Investigation also opened a criminal investigation into the abuse of office by the head of the Odesa Regional Territorial Centre for Recruitment and Social Support during mobilisation activities.