Court orders SBI to open criminal case against STS officials

The Pechersk District Court of Kyiv ordered representatives of the State Bureau of Investigation to open criminal proceedings against officials of the State Tax Service at the request of Olena Sosiedka, co-owner of Concord Bank, for causing severe property damage to the financial institution's shareholders, UNN reports.

According to the court's decision, Olena Sosiedka filed a complaint with the court against the inaction of the SBI investigator, who failed to enter information about the commission of a criminal offense into the Unified Register of Pre-trial Investigations.

In her statement, Sosiedka said that a group of officials had committed an intentional serious crime by abuse of power. In particular, she pointed out that officials of the State Tax Service of Ukraine, in particular the management, including the Central Interregional Department of the State Tax Service for Work with Large Taxpayers, used power or official position against the interests of the service, and also entered knowingly false information into an official document, which caused serious property consequences for the shareholders of JSC Concorde Bank.

Liability for committing these crimes is stipulated by Part 2 of Article 364, Part 2 of Article 366 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine.

"The complaint is upheld. To oblige the competent officials of the State Bureau of Investigation to enter information into the Unified Register of Pre-trial Investigations on the application of Olena Sosedka dated 20.03.2024 on the commission of a criminal offense and to initiate a pre-trial investigation, and to inform the applicant about it. The ruling is not subject to appeal," the court said in its decision of April 11, 2024.

In an exclusive commentary to UNN, Sosiedka said that despite the fact that the court made the relevant decision in April this year, she still does not know whether the SBI has opened a criminal case on her statement against the leadership of the State Tax Service. "The SBI has not yet informed me whether criminal proceedings have been opened," she said.

Recall

The State Tax Service conducted an audit of Concord Bank after the NBU's decision to liquidate it. The audit lasted three months and, according to Olena Sosiedka, resulted in a report that stated violations totaling UAH 700 thousand. However, according to Sosiedka, on the personal instruction of the head of the Verkhovna Rada Tax Committee, Danylo Hetmantsev, the tax authorities illegally "added" UAH 392 million. The Deposit Guarantee Fund, represented by the liquidator of Concord Bank, appealed this act to the Central Interregional Department of the State Tax Service for Large Taxpayers. After that, an additional tax audit was ordered, which is still ongoing.