SSU: Zdolbuniv mayor to stand trial for bribery

According to the materials of the Security Service of the region, a pre-trial investigation has been completed into the mayor of the Zdolbunivka urban territorial community, Vladyslav Sukhlyak, a lawyer, and their "mediator", who demanded a bribe from a local businesswoman for resolving the issue of transferring land for long-term lease.

SSU officers detained a lawyer and an "intermediary" "red-handed" while they were receiving another "tranche" of $5,000 from a businesswoman in July 2024.

As the investigation established, the director of the enterprise turned to a local lawyer with a request to help her obtain the right to use a land plot outside the city of Zdolbuniv for business activities.

The lawyer contacted the "mediator", who informed him that the issue could only be resolved through the mayor by paying him an amount of over half a million hryvnias.

Using his official position, the official guaranteed the adoption by the city council deputies of a decision to transfer 0.5 hectares of land. During the authorized searches, cash and documentation with evidence of illegal activity were discovered and seized.

Under the procedural guidance of the Rivne Regional Prosecutor's Office, an indictment was sent to the court against the city mayor for committing a crime under Part 3 of Article 368 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (acceptance of an offer, promise or receipt of an improper benefit by an official)

Indictments have also been sent to the court against the other two defendants for abuse of influence, as provided for in Part 2 of Article 369-2 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine.

Law enforcement officers determined that the community leader received $10,000 of this amount, and the rest was the profit of his accomplices. The official has now been suspended from his position. None of the three defendants has pleaded not guilty.

We will remind you that earlier the embezzlement of UAH 1.5 million from the Kyiv City State Administration for the repair of a shelter was exposed .

We also wrote that seven people will be tried in Vinnytsia for embezzling 4.3 million UAH.