Position: Director of the Department of Departmental Security and Control of the State Customs Service.
Sphere of corrupt activity: customs.
Region of corrupt activity: all of Ukraine.
Qualification: Part 3 Art. 368 (acceptance of an offer, promise or receipt of an unlawful benefit by an official); Part 3 of Art. 369 (offer, promise or provision of undue benefit to an official).
Status: unknown.
The plot of the case: in July 2024, the Security Service, together with the Prosecutor General's Office, detained the director of the Department of Departmental Security and Control of the State Customs Service and his deputy in Kyiv on suspicion of organized schemes of "taxation" of regional customs.
The investigation confirmed that the detained officials systematically demanded illegal benefits from the heads of regional customs, for which they "guaranteed" the officials not to create artificial obstacles in their professional activities.
Also, in exchange for a "tribute", the heads of departmental security promised to "cover up" official violations of the heads of customs and their subordinates. The Security Service of Ukraine stated that they had been monitoring the criminal activities of the heads of the State Customs Service for more than a year and had documented at least eight cases of monthly extortion.
In particular, the organizers engaged a subordinate in the regional body of the State Customs Service to implement the arrangement.
The head of the departmental security department of the State Customs Service, his deputy, and one of the heads of the regional customs were caught red-handed while handing over a bribe. All three are being charged under two articles of the Criminal Code of Ukraine
Part 3 of Art. 368 (acceptance of an offer, promise or receipt of an unlawful benefit by an official); Part 3 of Art. 369 (offer, promise or provision of undue benefit to an official).
It is also planned to announce suspicion to the former head of one of the regional customs offices under Article Part 3 of Art. 369 of the Civil Code.
The Security Service of Ukraine reported that they are still conducting 28 searches in the Central Office of the State Customs Service and regional units of departmental security and control in the Western, Southern and Central regions in order to identify all participants in the scheme.
The investigating authorities do not name the detainees, but Oleksandr Maruzhenko is listed as the director of the Department of Departmental Security and Control on the website of the State Customs Service. Previously, he worked in the bodies of the Security Service of Ukraine.
Persons potentially involved in corruption schemes: other participants in the corruption scheme are identified.
Net worth: Oleksandr Maruzhenko declared a salary of about UAH 90,000 per month. He keeps $135,000 and UAH 300,000 in cash. At the same time, another 392,000 hryvnias are in the customs officer's bank account. Inga's wife keeps UAH 440,000 in cash.
Interestingly, Maruzhenka's wife worked until the end of 2017 as the chief state tax inspector of the Solomyan district of Kyiv. In 2018, she submitted her last declaration after her dismissal. Then the woman showed only UAH 150,000 in savings.
Scandals: According to the media, the Director of the Department of Departmental Security and Control of the State Customs Service Oleksandr Maruzhenko is an acting person. Head of the Customs Service Serhiy Zvyagintsev .
On the eve of Maruzhenko's search and detention by SBU officers, he and Zvyagintsev were searched by NABU officers. As OBOZ.UA was able to find out, Maruzhenko previously worked in the Security Service of Ukraine. His wife, a former tax inspector, after her dismissal took out a three-room apartment in the capital residential complex and land for the construction of a house in an elite suburb of Kyiv. Now the former official receives a salary from the company, which is suspected of evading VAT for millions of hryvnias.
According to OBOZ.UA sources in law enforcement agencies, Zvyagintsev was summoned to NABU today. The reason is the creation of the OPG at customs. On July 4, NABU searched both Oleksandr Maruzhenka and Serhii Zvyagintsev. Then, it seems, there was talk of schemes to appoint "their people" as heads of regional customs: they wanted to receive $1 million for the appointment of the head of Lviv customs, $500,000 for Volyn customs, and $200,000 for Chernivtsi customs.
Persons who should have reacted: in the case of Maruzhenko, the law enforcement officers reacted in time.
Sources:
https://public.nazk.gov.ua/documents/51e90ad6-135a-40e9-a3ad-ec37f83a1a4a