The case of protecting "porn offices": National Police top officials and a driver remanded in custody with multi-million bail amounts
Kyiv • UNN
The court has arrested police officials for covering up a network of porn offices. The suspects were granted bail ranging from one to eight million hryvnias.
The court has remanded five suspects in custody in the case of a corruption cover-up for a network of "porn offices," UNN reports, citing the Prosecutor General's Office.
At the request of prosecutors from the Prosecutor General's Office, the court has ordered preventive measures for five participants in a corruption scheme related to covering up the activities of a network of so-called "porn offices"
Details
According to the investigation, police officials and individuals close to them allegedly received undue benefits for ensuring the unhindered operation of premises where pornographic content was illegally created and distributed.
As reported by the Prosecutor General's Office, the court ordered preventive measures in the form of detention with the possibility of bail for all five suspects.
In particular:
• for the Head of the Main Directorate of the National Police (GUNP) in the Ivano-Frankivsk region — 7 million UAH bail;
• for the Deputy Head of the GUNP in the Ivano-Frankivsk region — 5 million UAH bail;
• for the First Deputy Head of the Investigative Department of the GUNP in the Ternopil region — 5 million UAH bail;
• for the Deputy Head of the GUNP in the Zhytomyr region — 1.164 million UAH bail;
• for the driver of the Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs of Ukraine — 8 million UAH bail.
Additionally
The Prosecutor General's Office recalled that during searches conducted as part of these proceedings, law enforcement officers seized luxury cars, cash, and other property.
The total amount of seized funds is 22.6 million UAH.
The pretrial investigation is ongoing. Law enforcement officers are identifying the full circle of individuals who may have been involved in the corruption cover-up of illegal activities
Context
On Wednesday, May 20, Prosecutor General of Ukraine Ruslan Kravchenko reported on a large-scale operation conducted in Ukraine to purge the National Police system of corruption. A scheme to cover up "porn offices" in three regions was exposed.
The law enforcement officers detained in the case of protecting "porn offices" were served with notices of suspicion under Part 4 of Article 368 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (acceptance of an undue benefit).
The sanction of the article provides for imprisonment from 8 to 12 years, with disqualification from holding certain positions or engaging in certain activities for up to 3 years, and confiscation of property.
The list of suspects includes:
- Assistant to Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs Teterya — V. Vorobey;
- Head of the Ivano-Frankivsk Regional Police — S. Bezpalko;
- Deputy Head of the Ivano-Frankivsk Regional Police — V. Yatsyuk;
- First Deputy Head and Chief of the Investigative Department of the Ternopil Regional Police — A. Tkachyk;
- Deputy Head of the Zhytomyr Regional Police — I. Hulevatyi.