Extortion of $1 million for supply of drones: NABU has announced new allegations against State Border Guard Service official and company owner
An official from the State Border Guard Service and the owner of a private company have been informed of new allegations in the case concerning the extortion of a $1 million bribe in exchange for the unhindered supply of drones.
This was reported by the NABU press office, according to Censor.NET.
Details
The case concerns the giving of a bribe and the laundering of illicit proceeds (Article 369(2) and Article 209(2) of the Criminal Code of Ukraine).
The crux of the matter
In August 2025, according to the NABU, a drone manufacturer won the State Border Guard Service’s tender by lowering its price, despite the requests of a competitor who had been counting on winning thanks to its connections with border guards. As their plan had been thwarted, the competitor, in collusion with State Border Guard Service officials, began demanding $1 million from the winner in exchange for the unhindered conclusion of the contract and acceptance of the equipment.
Detectives from the Bureau have uncovered a further instance of the provision of an unlawful benefit.
"This concerns a transfer by a competitor to an official of the State Border Guard Service of 50,000 units of the cryptocurrency Tether (USDT) (over 2.1 million UAH at the NBU exchange rate).
"Furthermore, as the investigation revealed, the State Border Guard Service official repeatedly received illegal income, which he concealed in crypto-assets. Between January and April 2026, he converted over 15.4 million hryvnias into the cryptocurrency Tether (USDT)," the statement noted.
It has been established that the border guard converted some of these assets into cash, which he subsequently used to purchase a Mercedes-Benz GLC 300 and registered it in his wife’s name.
Detectives discovered one of the crypto wallets during a search of the border guard’s home.
