Key facts
- NABU said the five charged are alleged members of a group protecting scam call centers, drug trafficking and counterfeiting.
- The High Anti-Corruption Court set bail of Hr 15 million ($330,000) for National Police official Volodymyr Tsenov.
- Suspect Vitalii Rybalka was remanded for two months without bail and has denied the allegations.
- NABU said a senior SBU official obstructed its November 4 searches and threatened to use a firearm.
- SBU chief Oleksandr Poklad dismissed two senior officials implicated in the case and pledged support for the investigations.
Ukraine's National Anti-Corruption Bureau said on November 5 that five members of an alleged criminal group had been charged in a case involving the protection of scam call centers, drug trafficking and counterfeiting foreign currency. The suspects include senior officials of the Security Service of Ukraine and the National Police, NABU said.
The High Anti-Corruption Court placed two suspects in pre-trial detention. It ordered Volodymyr Tsenov, deputy head of the National Police's Strategic Investigations Department, held for two months and set bail at Hr 15 million ($330,000). Anti-corruption agencies allege Tsenov helped provide protection to scam call centers in exchange for bribes. The court remanded Vitalii Rybalka for two months without the right to bail; investigators allege he was involved in violent crimes including torture. Rybalka has denied the allegations.
NABU and the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office said on November 4 that the scheme involved senior officials from the SBU, the National Police and the Prosecutor General's Office, as well as members of criminal groups. Media reports identified the alleged group's leaders as Andriy Osipov and Yehor Birkin, the founder of the drug ring known as Khimprom. According to NABU, the group was also involved in torture-for-hire, kidnappings and extorting millions of dollars.
On November 4, NABU searched SBU officials' premises under a warrant issued by the High Anti-Corruption Court. The agency said a senior SBU official obstructed the searches and threatened to use a firearm, and that SBU special forces arrived at the scene. Ukrainska Pravda reported on November 4, citing undisclosed sources, that the official was Major General Serhii Duka, first deputy head of the SBU's Department for the Protection of National Statehood. Two other officials whose premises were reportedly searched were Colonel Anton Kravchenko, head of the SBU's Main Directorate of Internal Security, and Oleksandr Kovalchuk, Duka's deputy.
SBU chief Oleksandr Poklad dismissed two senior officials implicated in the case and pledged full support and assistance with the investigations. The National Police said officers implicated in the case had been suspended. The case follows a broader investigation into an alleged network protecting scam call centers; in September, the revelations brought down then-Prosecutor General Ruslan Kravchenko, who subsequently fled the country.