I signed notice of suspicion against NABU Director Kryvonos, - Kravchenko. VIDEO
Following his resignation, Prosecutor General Ruslan Kravchenko issued a statement regarding the searches carried out by the NABU and the SAPO.
He made this statement in a video address, according to Censor.NET.
Details
The Prosecutor General emphasised that submitting his resignation does not constitute an admission of guilt, the result of any agreement, or a refusal to fight for his reputation.
"Operation ‘Carthage’ was not directed solely against me. The real aim was to gain access to materials from criminal proceedings concerning the heads and staff of NABU and the SAPO. And after that – to remove the Prosecutor General and halt the adoption of procedural decisions in these cases," said Kravchenko.
According to Kravchenko, during the searches, NABU and SAPO staff gained access to legally protected case files concerning their leaders, staff and associated individuals. Some of the documents and electronic data were copied and stolen, he added.
Suspicion of Kryvonos
"I have signed a notice of suspicion against NABU Director Semen Kryvonos. I suspect him of forging official documents to obtain an unlawful benefit on an exceptionally large scale, and of fabricating evidence with the aim of artificially creating grounds to evade liability in court," he emphasised.
Kravchenko stated that he is confident in the evidence.
"The second charge concerns a person close to the head of the Special Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (SAPO). It relates to influencing a judge of the High Anti-Corruption Court, offering them unlawful benefits, and aiding in evading mobilisation. It was precisely this case that served as the trigger and the real reason for the night-time raid on the Office of the Prosecutor General," said the Prosecutor General.
According to Kravchenko, prior to this decision, he had been politically restrained by the President and anti-corruption activists, who had offered guarantees of immunity in exchange for refusing to charge him with the offense.
The Prosecutor General advises NABU Director Kryvonos and SAPO Head Klymenko to resign.
Operation ‘Carthage’
- As a reminder, earlier "Ukrainska Pravda", citing its own sources, reported that NABU and the SAPO were allegedly conducting searches at the offices of Prosecutor General Ruslan Kravchenko, his deputy Maria Vdovychenko, and the head of the Odesa Regional State Administration, Oleh Kiper.
- On 4 September, NABU and the SAPO announced suspected "protection rackets" within the Office of the Prosecutor General (OPG) involving a network of so-called call centres that swindle people out of their money.
- According to media reports, NABU and the SAPO have detained Serhii Kropyva, deputy head of the OGP’s Department of International Legal Cooperation.
- Prior to his current post at the OPG, Kropyva served as Deputy Head of the Odesa Regional State Administration, working alongside Oleh Kiper.
- Against this backdrop, NABU has announced a new operation called ‘Carthage’.
- The Office of the Prosecutor General stated that it would suspend the employee who is under investigation for possible involvement in ‘providing protection for a network’ of fraudulent call centres and the legalisation of assets.
- According to updated information, NABU and the Specialised Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (SAPO) have uncovered a criminal organisation whose members systematically received unlawful benefits from fraudulent call centres and laundered millions. The organiser of the scheme turned out to be one of the heads of a structural unit within the Office of the Prosecutor General.
- Recordings of a criminal group of OPG staff were also published.
- Later, the Office of the Prosecutor General confirmed that searches had been carried out at the homes of Prosecutor General Kravchenko and his deputy.
- The High Anti-Corruption Court imposed a preventive measure on OPG official Kropyva.
- On 7 September, Ivakhnenko was remanded in custody with bail set at 20 million hryvnias.
- On the evening of 7 September, Kravchenko resigned from his post as Prosecutor General.
- Following his resignation, Deputy Prosecutor General Maria Vdovychenko, who is implicated in an investigation by the anti-corruption authorities, also resigned from the prosecution service.
