NABU announced that MP Tyshchenko was under suspicion of "resolving issue" with call centres for $1 million
The National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) and the Specialised Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (SAPO) have notified Mykola Tyshchenko, a sitting Member of the Ukrainian Parliament, that he is under investigation on suspicion of soliciting an unlawful benefit.
This was reported by the NABU press office, according to Censor.NET.
A million dollars for the immunity of call centres
According to the investigation, in August 2023, the MP, under the pretext of combating the activities of so-called ‘call centres’, demanded over US$1 million in bribes from an individual he believed to be involved in their operations. In return, he promised to use his powers to interfere with the operations of certain "call centres" in that person’s interests and not to hinder the work of others. However, he did not receive the bribe.
Laundering millions through a fictitious agreement with his ex-wife
Furthermore, according to the investigation, the MP laundered 12.6 million hryvnias of illegal origin by drawing up a fictitious contract for the donation of funds with his ex-wife. The investigation established that she had no legitimate income to make such a gift, and that no actual transfer of funds took place.
- The MP subsequently declared this income in his annual declaration, thereby, according to the investigation, deliberately including knowingly false information in it.
The individual’s actions have been classified under Part 4 of Article 369 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine, Part 2 of Article 209 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine and Part 2 of Article 366-2 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine.
The pre-trial investigation is ongoing. All the circumstances of the criminal offence are being established, as well as the identities of other individuals who may be involved in its commission.
The Tishchenko case
- On 20 June 2024, in the city of Dnipro, a group of unknown assailants attacked Dmytro Pavlov (Son), a former member of the Kraken special forces unit, whilst he was out walking with his child. Footage shows that the security detail of MP Mykola Tishchenko, with whom Pavlov had had an argument, was allegedly involved in the incident.
- The controversial video from Dnipro, in which MP Mykola Tyshchenko’s security detail attacked the former soldier and unlawfully detained him, also featured the MP’s assistant, Evelina Andriyevska.
- On the morning of 25 June, the State Bureau of Investigation (SBI) reported that MP Mykola Tyshchenko had been served with a notice of suspicion in connection with the events in Dnipro on 20 June. The agency stated that the MP had been served with a notice of suspicion on the grounds of the unlawful deprivation of the victim’s liberty (Part 2 of Article 146 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine).
- The court imposed a preventive measure on Tyshchenko – round-the-clock house arrest with the wearing of an electronic monitoring device.
- Subsequently, the MP’s pre-trial measure was changed to a personal undertaking.
