Odesa official suspected of demanding $5,000 bribe
An official of the State Service for Food and Consumer Protection was detained in the Odessa region, suspected of receiving a $5,000 bribe from an entrepreneur. According to investigators, he demanded money in exchange for not creating obstacles in work and not recording violations during price control.
According to the investigation, the official was responsible for monitoring compliance with state regulation of prices for goods sold in the Odessa markets.
As law enforcement officers established, after citizens' complaints, employees of the State Service for Food Safety and Consumer Protection conducted inspections of sellers and drew up reports on allegedly detected violations. The documents included requirements for their elimination and payment of fines, which could reach hundreds of thousands of hryvnias.
After that, according to the investigation, an official from the State Service for Food and Consumer Protection of Ukraine approached the entrepreneurs and offered to "solve" the issue for $5,000. For this money, he promised not to create artificial obstacles in the work and not to highlight the violations that were discovered.
If the money was refused, the official, according to the State Bureau of Investigation, threatened to block the entrepreneurs' work and seize the goods. On September 7, he was detained while receiving an illegal benefit from an entrepreneur.
The official was informed of suspicion under Part 3 of Article 368 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine - receiving unlawful benefit by an official. The sanction of the article provides for up to 10 years of imprisonment with confiscation of property.
The issue of choosing a preventive measure for the suspect is currently being resolved, the State Bureau of Investigation added.
We also previously reported that a Cherkasy resident who tried to illegally cross the state border by bribing a serviceman was detained by border guards .
In addition, in the Dnipropetrovsk region, suspicion was reported against an official who, according to law enforcement officials, promised to help an applicant enroll in college in exchange for a bribe .
