Mayor and secretary of Novomoskovsk council detained on $30,000 bribe
12 April 2024 17:57
ВІДЕО
Law enforcers detained the head of a city council in Dnipropetrovs’k region and the council secretary. They demanded $30,000 in bribes from an entrepreneur who wanted to build a dormitory for IDPs. This was reported by the State Bureau of Investigation, Komersant ukrainskyi 
reports.
According to media reports, it is the mayor of Novomoskovsk, Serhiy Reznik, and the secretary of the city council, Volodymyr Arutyunov.
It is noted that since the 90s, there has been an unfinished school with an area of 4,500 square metres on the territory of the community. The businessman decided to renovate the premises so that the IDPs could be accommodated there. An international humanitarian organisation was to pay for the accommodation.
He approached the city council with this proposal. During the meetings, officials asked the man for a USD 30,000 bribe. In exchange for this money, they promised to put the issue to a vote at the session and further influence the deputies to support the decision to lease the premises for a long term. This made it possible to lease the premises without announcing a special tender.
on 9 April 2024, the businessman handed over the bribe to the council secretary in his office. Both officials were detained during the transfer of money.
The detainees were served a notice of suspicion of extortion and receipt of an unlawful benefit on a particularly large scale (Part 4 of Article 368 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine).
The sanction of the article provides for imprisonment for up to 12 years with confiscation of property.
The full range of persons who may be involved in the fraud is also being identified, including information on local law enforcement officers who may have “cooperated” with the officials in extorting bribes.
A preventive measure was imposed on Serhiy Reznik, the Specialised Defence Prosecutor’s Office of the Eastern Region told Suspilne.
The official was taken into custody with the possibility of bail in the amount of UAH 3 million.
