50 public prosecutors are said to have bought a disability certificate in order to avoid the war effort in Ukraine. Now another official has been caught with black money.
During house searches, investigators found six-figure cash on the head of a health commission in Mykolaiv, southern Ukraine. The value of the sum of money is the equivalent of 416,000 euros. Jewels were also discovered, the SBU secret service and the public prosecutor’s office said. They didn’t mention the value.
According to the authorities, in Mykolaiv the official only officially declared income totaling the equivalent of a good 44,000 euros between 2015 and 2023. She had three apartments she bought registered to her son.
Last year she also issued disability certificates for herself and her son in order to collect disability pensions and other state benefits.
A similar case in Khmelnytskyi had previously caused a stir. In the western Ukrainian region, the general public prosecutor’s office is investigating around 50 public prosecutors because they wanted to avoid the war effort by purchasing a disability certificate.
The trigger was the arrest of the head of the medical-social expert commission for assessing levels of disability in the Khmelnytskyi region at the beginning of October. The woman, who sat on the regional council for President Volodymyr Zelensky’s party, is said to have classified thousands of Ukrainians as disabled and therefore unfit for military service in exchange for money.
Cash worth the equivalent of over five million euros was confiscated during house searches. Millions more were discovered in accounts, including abroad. The doctor’s son also headed the pension fund in the region and was therefore responsible for paying special pensions.
Ukraine has been defending itself against a Russian invasion for more than two and a half years. Since the Russian invasion, martial law has been in effect and mobilization has been ordered. Men between the ages of 18 and 60 who are considered fit for military service can only legally leave the country in exceptional cases.
Paying bribes is widespread in order to avoid being drafted into military service or to obtain permission to leave the country. According to the non-governmental organization Transparency International, Ukraine is one of the most corrupt states in Europe after war enemy Russia.