New suspicions announced in the case of extortion from businesses amounting to 450,000 hryvnias in the Prykarpattia region

Law enforcement officers have announced new suspicions in the case of systematic extortion from businesses in the Prykarpattia region. It concerns 9 episodes totaling over 450,000 hryvnias, reports UNN citing the Office of the Prosecutor General.

Details

Prosecutors of the Ivano-Frankivsk Regional Prosecutor's Office have announced new suspicions against the head of the South-Western Interregional Department of the State Labor Service, two of his subordinates, and the director of a controlled enterprise.

The investigation established that the organizer of the criminal scheme is a 41-year-old head of the interregional department, who involved the head of the inspection activity department, his deputy, and a former employee of the institution as an intermediary. They turned the powers of the state body into a system of constant extortion from local entrepreneurs. For money, they promised the absence of inspections, positive decisions, non-detection of labor law violations, and other "services."

One of the directions of the scheme was investigations of industrial accidents. The intermediary approached entrepreneurs and offered, for a fee, not to conduct an investigation or to ensure the desired decision of the commission. The amounts of undue advantage, according to the investigation, were determined personally by the head of the department. Another source of illegal income was a labor protection training center. It was registered under a former employee of the State Labor Service, and the training, according to the investigation, existed only on paper. For a certificate without training and passing exams, entrepreneurs paid from 1,200 to 1,600 hryvnias per employee

Also, the suspects demanded money for registering high-risk facilities, processing labor protection declarations, positive inspection results, and non-detection of violations.

For example, one businesswoman was demanded 15–17 thousand hryvnias for processing a declaration and another 5,600 hryvnias for certificates for four employees. The group's activities were documented from March to November 2025. Nine episodes of receiving undue advantage totaling over 450,000 hryvnias have been established

The criminals were exposed in November 2025. During the pre-trial investigation, it was established that the suspects acted as part of an organized group, therefore on July 21, 2026, they were notified of new suspicions under Part 3 of Article 28, Part 3 of Article 368 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine.

This concerns obtaining undue advantage - by prior conspiracy by a group of persons on a large scale, or by an official holding a responsible position, or combined with extortion.

The sanction of the articles provides for imprisonment from 5 to 10 years, with confiscation of property, as well as a ban on holding certain positions or engaging in certain activities for up to 3 years.

Recall

The former acting general director of a state enterprise in the defense industry and three of his employees were notified of new suspicions - for a scheme to destroy a state defense enterprise with losses of millions of hryvnias.