Position: former deputy head of the Kamen-Kashyr tax inspectorate.
Sphere of corruption: tax.
Region of corruption activity: Volyn region.
Qualification: Part 3 of Article 368 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (obtaining an unlawful benefit by an official)
Status: 5 years in prison with confiscation of 1/2 of the property.
The plot of the case: as stated in the verdict of August 6, in July-August 2015, Valentyn Bebes demanded and received a bribe from an entrepreneur for not holding him accountable for violating labor laws. According to the investigation, the tax officer informed the entrepreneur that he was facing a UAH 50,000 fine, but that he could not pay it if he gave a UAH 1,000 bribe and continued to bring UAH 5,000 every month for not conducting inspections.
The entrepreneur paid UAH 1,000 and then filed a crime report with the police. Law enforcement officers then documented the transfer of the remaining part of the bribe, after which the official was detained.
In court, Valentin Bebes denied his guilt and claimed provocation. He admitted that the businessman brought him money to his office, which he transferred to another table. However, he assured that it was not a bribe, but a payment for a developer's certificate to register timber in the forestry without participating in the auction.
In 2017, a local court sentenced the tax collector to 5.5 years in prison, but the appeals court overturned this decision, concluding that the first instance court had failed to verify some of the defense's arguments regarding provocation.
In particular, it turned out that the entrepreneur himself had problems with the law a few months before the exposure of Valentin Bebes. In January 2015, the police took his truck with roundwood to the penalty area, because he was transporting wood without documents. Later, the man brought the documents and the criminal case was closed. As it turned out, the wood was sold to him by the brother-in-law of the senior operational officer of the Department of the State Service for Combating Economic Crime of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine. Later, this operational officer participated in operational measures against the tax collector, and because of this, the defense claimed that the applicant was connected with the police.
Recently, judge of the Kamin-Kashyrskyi District Court Borys Gamula issued a new verdict in the case. According to the court, law enforcement agencies only joined the recording and investigation at a certain stage of the case, and therefore Valentyn Bebes was found guilty under Part 3 of Article 368 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (obtaining unlawful benefit by an official) and sentenced to 5 years in prison with confiscation of 1/2 of the property. The decision can still be appealed in the court of appeal.
We would like to add that Valentin Bebes worked at the Kamen-Kashyr Tax Inspectorate until August 2018. He currently holds the position of director of the Ratnivsky Agrarian Limited Liability Company.
Persons potentially involved in corruption schemes: being identified.
Assets: Bebes's declaration is missing from the NACP register.
Persons who should have reacted: in the case of Bebes, law enforcement officers reacted in a timely manner, however, his case dragged on for 10 years.
Scandals: There is no information in open sources about other scandals involving Bebes.
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