In the Lviv region, an indictment has been submitted to court against a former customs clearance inspector of the Krakivets customs post of the Lviv Customs Office. According to the investigation, he is accused of organising a scheme for obtaining undue benefit in return for allowing foreign currency to be taken abroad without hindrance and without completing customs formalities.
The investigation established that in January this year the former inspector set up a mechanism that allowed the border with Poland to be crossed without the mandatory declaration of US dollars. The amount of the “reward” depended on the sum: for exporting up to 50,000 US dollars, a payment of 500 US dollars was required, and for sums over 50,000 US dollars – 1,000 US dollars.
It was documented that during February – early April this year, the customs officer allowed 180,000 US dollars to pass across the border in three instalments without declaration, for which he received a total of 2,500 US dollars in undue benefit. While receiving 1,000 US dollars for another border crossing with undeclared currency, he was detained by law enforcement officers under Article 208 of the Criminal Procedure Code of Ukraine.
The former official is charged with receiving an undue benefit by an official for himself for actions in the interests of the person providing the undue benefit, using his official position, committed repeatedly, under Part 3 of Article 368 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine. The pre-trial investigation was conducted by the Main Department of the National Police in Lviv Region, operational support was provided by the Security Service of Ukraine Office in Lviv Region, and the exposure was carried out jointly with the internal control department of the Lviv Customs Office.
Pursuant to Article 62 of the Constitution of Ukraine, a person is presumed innocent of committing a crime and may not be subjected to criminal punishment until his or her guilt has been proved in the manner prescribed by law and established by a guilty verdict of the court.