In the Donetsk region, law enforcement officers detained a battalion commander who is suspected of extorting part of combat pay from subordinates. About this reported Security Service of Ukraine.
Together with the employees of the State Bureau of Investigation, the SBU exposed a scheme of illegal charging of increased payments in one of the Armed Forces brigades. As a result of the operation in the Donetsk region, a combatant of a military unit was detained, who, according to the investigation, demanded “kickbacks” from subordinates for fictitious allowances, allegedly for participating in combat operations on the front line.
The investigators established that, at the request of the commander, the soldiers were paid allowances in the amount of 100,000 hryvnias for staying on the battle line for the entire month. However, according to the case file, the soldiers were actually not on the front line for that long, and after receiving the funds, each had to hand over 40,000 hryvnias to the commander. In case of refusal to pay the “kickback”, the combatant allegedly threatened to send subordinates to the front line.
It is documented that in March of this year alone, the official received 920,000 hryvnias in the form of illegal payments. In April, he hoped to receive the same amount, but he was caught red-handed during the transfer of illegal benefits.
He was charged with suspicion under Part 3 of Art. 368 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine — receipt of illegal benefits by an official combined with extortion. The commander is in custody with the possibility of bail in the amount of 49 million hryvnias. He faces up to 10 years in prison with confiscation of property. The investigation is conducted under the procedural guidance of the Specialized Prosecutor’s Office in the field of defense of the Prosecutor General’s Office.
