Kravchenko: In 2014, Kryvonos was involved in scheme to extort $72,000 for plot of land. VIDEO
The suspended Prosecutor General, Ruslan Kravchenko, has stated that in 2014, Semen Kryvonos was allegedly involved in a scheme involving the unlawful disposal of a plot of land in the Kyiv region and the receipt of undue benefits.
He reported this on Telegram, according to Censor.NET.
Details
According to Kravchenko, during March to November 2014, Petro Mykolaiovych Horbachenko, chairman of the Starobezradychiv Village Council in the Obukhiv District of the Kyiv Region, having entered into a criminal conspiracy with Semen Yuriiovych Kryvonos, head of the registration service at the Obukhiv City and District Department of Justice in the Kyiv Region, and Ukrainian citizens Vitalii Ivanovych Bulashenko, Vitalii Vitaliiovych Overchenko and Dmytro Mykhailovych Shnaider, demanded an unlawful benefit of 72,000 US dollars from Vladyslav Valeriiovych Ruzmatov in exchange for the allocation of a 0.25-hectare plot of land in the village of Tarasivka, Obukhiv District, Kyiv Region.
"In March 2014, Vladyslav Ruzmatov approached the chairman of the Starobezradychiv Village Council with a view to having a 0.25-hectare plot of land in the village of Tarasivka, Obukhiv District, Kyiv Region, allocated to him free of charge," the published video states.
However, during the meeting in question, the village head informed the applicant that he would only be able to arrange for the plot to be allocated to him on condition that an unlawful benefit of 120,000 US dollars was provided, Kravchenko claims.
At the same time, realising the illegality of such a condition, Vladyslav Ruzmatov approached the law enforcement agencies in April 2014 and began acting under their supervision with the aim of exposing the unlawful activities of the head of the Starobezradychiv Village Council and his associates, who were part of a criminal group, the video states.
According to Kravchenko, the village head enlisted Semen Kryvonos, head of the registration service at the Obukhiv City and District Department of Justice in the Kyiv region, and his trusted associate Vitalii Bulashenko in his unlawful activities.
"According to the investigation, in accordance with the criminal plan devised, Semen Kryvonos was to recruit a front man, to whom a plot of land was to be transferred free of charge, and subsequently ensure the certification of a contract of sale for that plot between the front man and Vladislav Ruzmatov.
In turn, Petro Gorbachenko, using his official position as chairman of the Starobezradychiv Village Council, was to ensure that a session of the village council was convened and that it adopted a decision on the transfer of the plot of land to the front man free of charge," the statement notes.
At the same time, Vitalii Bulashenko, as an accomplice in the commission of the offence, in order to conceal the actions of Petro Horbachenko and Semen Kryvonos, was required to act as an intermediary, isolating the latter from direct communication with Vladyslav Ruzmatov and conveying to him the mechanism devised by the defendants for obtaining an unlawful benefit, disguised as the conclusion of a contract for the sale and purchase of a plot of land.
On 20 May 2014, Vitalii Bulashenko informed Vladyslav Ruzmatov that the land plot in question was to be allocated to Vitalii Overchenko (a front man recruited by Semen Kryvonos), and therefore the only lawful way for Vladyslav Ruzmatov to acquire it was to conclude a contract of sale between Vitalii Overchenko and Vladyslav Ruzmatov, as stated in the video.
Subsequently, Petro Horbachenko, exploiting his official position, orchestrated a decision at the 35th session of the sixth convocation of the Starobezradychiv Village Council to transfer the plot of land into the ownership of Vitalii Overchenko.
"Subsequently, on 30 September 2014, officials from the registration service of the Obukhiv City and District Department of Justice in Kyiv Oblast – headed by Semen Kryvonos – registered Vitalii Overchenko as the owner of the plot of land with a view to its subsequent transfer to Vladyslav Ruzmatov.
Vitalii Overchenko, in turn, acting on the instructions of Semen Kryvonos, issued a power of attorney in the name of Dmytro Schneider for the subsequent transfer of the plot of land to Vladyslav Ruzmatov.
Furthermore, the participants in the criminal conspiracy agreed on the need to artificially reduce the documented value of the plot of land in order to minimise tax payments on its sale and to avoid making payments by non-cash means.
To this end, on 28 October 2014, during a telephone conversation, Semen Kryvonos gave Dmytro Schneider a verbal instruction to find a valuer who could carry out an expert monetary valuation of the plot of land with an understated market value.
In accordance with a prior agreement with Semen Kryvonos, Dmytro Schneider found an appraiser, Serhii Riabokin, whom he persuaded to draw up a knowingly false report on the expert monetary valuation of the plot of land.
"Thus, on 30 October 2014, Serhii Riabokin issued a report on the expert monetary valuation of the plot of land, in which the market value of the plot was assessed at 149,896.25 UAH instead of 345,000 UAH," Kravchenko explains in the video.
At the same time, the procedure for formalising the transaction regarding the unlawful disposal of the plot of land was never completed, as the participants in the criminal scheme became aware that their unlawful activities had been exposed.
"On 31 October 2014, whilst at the notary’s office and having begun to draw up the relevant documentation and transfer the funds, Dmytro Shnaider, acting on behalf of the fictitious owner of the plot of land – the front man Vitalii Overchenko – received a message on his mobile phone and unexpectedly refused to proceed with the previously agreed sale and purchase transaction.
He then postponed the signing of the contract with Vladyslav Ruzmatov until 3 November 2014, and subsequently reneged on his obligations altogether.
The investigation established that on the day the funds for the plot of land were due to be transferred, namely 31 October 2014, Semen Kryvonos had a meeting with Oleksii Volodymyrovych Pavlushko, Deputy Prosecutor of the Obukhiv District in the Kyiv Region.
"Following this meeting, Semen Kryvonos abruptly ceased all communication via his mobile phone and began avoiding contact with his accomplices," the statement adds.
Kravchenko noted that Kryvonos is suspected of:
- requesting that an official in a position of responsibility be granted an unlawful benefit, on a particularly large scale, for himself and third parties, in return for that official, acting in the interests of the person providing the unlawful benefit, performing acts by exploiting his official position, committed by a group of persons acting in prior collusion;
- organising the drafting and issuance by an assessor of a knowingly forged official document certifying certain facts of legal significance which confer certain rights or exempt from obligations, committed by a group of persons acting in collusion.
Kravchenko’s resignation and the allegations against Kryvonos
- Earlier, Ruslan Kravchenko stated that he had signed a notice of suspicion against NABU Director Semen Kryvonos and a person close to the head of the SAPO.
- President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called on the Rada to immediately support the dismissal of Ruslan Kravchenko from the post of Prosecutor General.
- NABU and the SAPO described Kravchenko’s actions as a continuation of a systematic attack on anti-corruption bodies.
- According to the AntAC, Kravchenko left the country on the night of 14 September.
- Subsequently, the Prosecutor General stated that he is currently abroad on a business trip.
- According to sources at Censor.NET, Kravchenko registered his trip abroad as an official business trip to Brussels.
- Subsequently, Prosecutor General Kravchenko stated that NABU Director Kryvonos is suspected of a sham adoption to evade criminal liability.
- On 14 September, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy ordered the suspension of Ruslan Kravchenko from the post of Prosecutor General of Ukraine.
- The Office of the Prosecutor General denied reports that a notice of suspicion had been served on Semen Kryvonos.
- Kravchenko accused the NABU of attempting to have the notice of suspicion against the bureau’s director, Semen Kryvonos, revoked through backroom deals.
