Operation "Carthage": Court remands driver of Prosecutor General’s Office official Kropyva in custody with bail set at UAH 3 million
The High Anti-Corruption Court has remanded Serhii Kutsyi, the driver of Prosecutor General’s Office official Serhii Kropyva, who is suspected of shielding fraudulent call centres, in custody.
The Anti-Corruption Action Centre reported this, according to Censor.NET.
Participation in a criminal organisation
Kutsyi appears under the alias "Kamrad" in NABU recordings in the case concerning "protection" for fraudulent call centres.
Kutsyi was remanded in custody for 60 days with the option of posting UAH 3 million bail.
If bail is posted, Kutsyi will be required, among other things, to:
- surrender his passports for foreign travel;
- refrain from communicating with specified individuals, including Kropyva, Ivakhnenko and others;
- appear whenever summoned by a detective, prosecutor or the court.
According to investigators, Kutsyi was a member of Kropyva’s criminal organisation.
Specifically, investigators allege that he handled security during Kropyva’s trips in an official vehicle and his meetings with other people, used unregistered licence plates, received money from individuals linked to call centres and passed it on to Kropyva.
He also helped Kropyva communicate with other members of the organisation, participated in money laundering and carried out other instructions from him.
Background
- Earlier, Ukrainska Pravda, citing its own sources, reported that NABU and SAPO were allegedly conducting searches targeting Prosecutor General Ruslan Kravchenko, his deputy Mariia Vdovychenko, and Head of the Odesa Regional Military Administration (RMA) Oleh Kiper.
- On 4 September, NABU and SAPO reported the alleged "protection" by the Prosecutor General’s Office (PGO) of a network of so-called call centers that defraud people.
- According to media reports, NABU and SAPO detained Serhii Kropyva, deputy head of the PGO’s Department of International Legal Cooperation.
- Before taking up his current position at the PGO, Kropyva served as deputy head of the Odesa Regional State Administration on Oleh Kiper’s team.
- Against this backdrop, NABU announced a new operation called "Carthage."
- The Prosecutor General’s Office stated that it would suspend the employee whose possible involvement in "protecting a network" of fraudulent call centers and laundering assets is being investigated.
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According to updated information, NABU and the Specialised Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (SAPO) uncovered a criminal organisation whose members systematically received bribes from fraudulent call centres and laundered millions. The organiser of the scheme was identified as the head of one of the Prosecutor General’s Office divisions.
- Recordings of the criminal group of Prosecutor General’s Office employees were also released.
- The Prosecutor General’s Office later confirmed searches at the premises of Prosecutor General Kravchenko and his deputy.
- The High Anti-Corruption Court imposed a pretrial restraint measure on Prosecutor General’s Office official Kropyva.
- On September 7, Ivakhnenko was remanded in custody with bail set at UAH 20 million.
