Kickback scheme uncovered at Correctional Colony No. 98
The acting director of the State Penitentiary Service of Ukraine No. 98 is suspected of bribery. The official demanded kickbacks from private entrepreneurs for agreements concluded with the correctional institution.
According to the investigation, the official, in return for remuneration, provided advantages to individual entrepreneurs when concluding contracts for work performed by convicts of Shepetivskaya Correctional Colony No. 98. For each deal, he demanded 10% of the contract amount for himself.
Law enforcement officers are not specifying the suspect's name. However, according to income declarations for 2024 and 2025, this position was held by Ivan Kucheruk.
The illegal actions were exposed thanks to a businessman who ordered the production of wire inconspicuous barriers from the colony. The contract amount was UAH 6 million, so the official requested UAH 600,000 for assistance in making a decision
In September of this year, the official received the first part of the bribe – UAH 150,000. The businessman handed over the remaining UAH 405,000 and $1,300 on November 26. After that, the director of the colony was detained.
He was charged under Part 3 of Article 368 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (receiving a large bribe by an official in a prior conspiracy). The court chose a preventive measure - detention with the possibility of posting bail in the amount of 499 thousand UAH. If found guilty, the official faces up to 10 years in prison.
Read also: Police officers, together with the SSU, detained Bohdan Svystun, the head of the Murovanka village council near Lviv, for accepting a bribe. According to law enforcement officers, he received UAH 1 million from an entrepreneur for assistance in resolving land issues.
In addition, the National Anti-Corruption Bureau and the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office exposed a criminal group that embezzled more than UAH 140 million of budget funds intended to provide heat and water to frontline cities in the Donetsk region.
