The Odesa regional prosecutor's office has charged the head of a village council in the Bolhrad district with corruption related to the receipt of illegal benefits for influencing decisions made by officials (part 3 of Article 369-2 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine).
According to the investigation, the official demanded $12,000 from the head of a local business for assistance in allocating four agricultural land plots, each with an area of 50 hectares.
In exchange for this money, he promised to influence the village council deputies to approve a decision on the sale of rights to the plots with a subsequent transfer for use by the company.
The village head was arrested after receiving an advance payment of $3,000. He is currently under detention with the option of posting bail and has been suspended from his position.
Measures to uncover this criminal activity were carried out by prosecutors from the Specialized Environmental Prosecutor's Office of the Odesa Regional Prosecutor's Office together with investigators from the Main Directorate of National Police in Odesa region, with operational support from the Department of Strategic Investigations of the National Police of Ukraine.
Note: according to Article 62 of the Constitution of Ukraine, a person is presumed innocent of committing a crime and cannot be subjected to criminal punishment until their guilt is proven in a lawful manner.
