"Service package" for $29,000: ТЦК, search and Group II disability in one corruption case
A lawyer was detained in Mykolaiv Oblast
44-year-old lawyer from Pivdennoukrainsk is suspected of a corruption scheme related to a person liable for military service, TCC and SP, and arranging a fake disability. According to law enforcement, the woman allegedly promised the man to help remove him from the search list of the Territorial Center for Recruitment and Social Support and then arrange documents to receive a Group II disability in exchange for 29 thousand US dollars.
Such a disability group could have given the person liable for military service grounds for a deferment from mobilization. In a country fighting against Russian aggression, such schemes look especially cynical: while some risk their lives at the front, others try to turn the war into business.
Investigators of the investigative department of the Main Directorate of the National Police in Mykolaiv Oblast notified the lawyer of suspicion with operational support from the regional SBU and under the procedural guidance of the Mykolaiv Regional Prosecutor’s Office.
According to the investigation, the lawyer set up a mechanism for obtaining illicit benefits by influencing decisions of officials performing state functions. In other words, law enforcement believes she was not simply providing legal advice, but promised for money to “resolve the issue” through officials.
There were two key stages. The first — removing the person liable for military service from the search list of the TCC and SP. The second — subsequently preparing documents to obtain Group II disability, which would have allowed a deferment from conscription into military service.
According to the police, the total amount of the “service” was 29 thousand US dollars. The suspect was detained after she received the last, main part of the money — 24,000 US dollars.
The detention was carried out under Article 208 of the Criminal Procedure Code of Ukraine. This means a person is detained without a judge’s warrant when caught during or immediately after the commission of an alleged crime.
The lawyer has been notified of suspicion under part 3 of Article 369-2 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine — receiving an illicit benefit for oneself or a third party for influencing a decision by a person authorized to perform state functions, combined with the extortion of such a benefit.
The article’s sanction provides for up to 8 years of imprisonment with confiscation of property.
The court ordered the suspect to be held in custody as a preventive measure. At the same time, bail is possible. According to the prosecutor’s office, its amount is UAH 655,600.
Law enforcement is also checking who else might have been involved in this scheme. In particular, the investigation must establish the possible role of officials without whom issuing such decisions would have been practically impossible.
The pre-trial investigation is ongoing. Still, it is worth recalling: a suspicion does not mean proven guilt. Only a court can put the final point in the case.
