1.7 million for appointment to senior positions at customs office: NABU serves notice of suspicion to Ruvin’s stepson, director of Kyiv Scientific Research Institute of Forensic Expertise. PHOTO (updated)

The NABU and SAPO prevented an attempt by a group of individuals to "put the right people in charge" of territorial offices of the State Customs Service to organise corruption schemes.

This was reported by Censor.NET with reference to the NABU press service.

According to the investigation, USD 1 million was offered for the position of the head of Lviv customs, while the positions of the heads of Volyn and Chernivtsi customs were valued at USD 500,000 and USD 200,000 respectively.

In addition, the group members hoped that the leadership of the State Customs Service would "ignore" corruption schemes at these customs offices in exchange for half of the illegally obtained income.

Thanks to NABU detectives and SAPO prosecutors, the criminal intentions were prevented.

Two persons were served a notice of suspicion under Part 2 Article 15, Part 4 Article 27, Part 4 Article 369 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine, the initiator of the crime was detained under Article 208 of the CPC of Ukraine.

See more: Man tried to bring UAH 8 million in cash to Ukraine - State Customs Service. PHOTO

According to Bihus.Info, this is Nazar Sheptytskyi, the stepson of Oleksandr Ruvin, the head of Ukraine's largest research institute of forensic science, Kyiv Scientific Research Institute of Forensic Expertise (KFI).

Subsequently, journalists, citing the text of the suspicion, which was at the disposal of the editorial office, reported that in the summer of 2023, Nazar Sheptytsky decided to appoint controlled persons to high positions at the customs by bribing the acting head of the State Customs Service.

To do this, Sheptytskyi engaged an intermediary, Ruslan Cherkaskyi, who was already the former deputy head of the Customs Service (dismissed in early 2023 amid numerous corruption scandals). Cherkaskyi was supposed to pass on a bribe offer to the head of the State Customs Service for the positions of heads of regional customs offices in the western regions.

According to detectives, Sheptytskyi planned to "finance" these appointments and select a list of suitable candidates together with his accomplice Oleh Hataliak. In addition, Hataliak was also supposed to control and distribute bribes at the future customs unit under his control. For example, if successful, the "partners" planned to receive about USD 2 million per month from the Volyn Customs, of which they would keep half for themselves.

Sheptytskyi subsequently met with Cherkaskyi several times to discuss the plan, calling Hataliak during the meetings. During these conversations, not only were the "prices" for positions in various departments of the customs office discussed, but also a scheme of phased payment. For example, half a million dollars was offered for Volyn, and 200,000 for Chernivtsi. However, judging by the content of the conversations, this was the "first payment" for the appointment itself, and in the future, regular additional payments were planned - a share of the monthly illegal profits," the article says.

Sheptytskyi's plan failed for "reasons beyond Sheptytskyi's control," the suspicion text says.

"However, Sheptytskyi personally marked the candidacy of Kharkiv customs officer Herasymov on the list of 'suitable' candidates, which Cherkaskyi was to pass on to the head of the State Customs Service. In January 2024, Yuriy Herasymov, who had previously headed Kharkiv Customs, was indeed appointed head of Chernivtsi Customs," the journalists added.

In 2021, journalists found real estate and cars worth tens of millions of hryvnias in the possession of Nazar Sheptytskyi's stepfather, Oleksandr Ruvin.