In Kyiv, a former deputy head of the tax service was detained in a case of laundering more than €31 million

In Kyiv, the former deputy head of the State Tax Service has been detained on suspicion of laundering billions of hryvnias from the budget.

This was reported by the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU), which did not name the ex-official. According to media reports, it is Yevhen Bambizov.

According to the SBU, he created a “conversion center” in Kyiv through which 1.5 billion hryvnias (€31.16 million) were laundered over two years. Among the main clients of the center were representatives of commercial structures carrying out contract work and services for budget-funded institutions.

To launder the funds, dozens of shell companies were created, most of which existed only on paper.

The investigation established that the official enlisted four accomplices in the criminal activity, including two accountants and the head of an affiliated company that handled the legalization and conversion of illicit funds into cash.

For planning and carrying out their illegal operations, the group rented office space in Kyiv, where they met with clients and kept shadow accounting records.

During searches of the organizer and his accomplices, law enforcement discovered cash obtained illegally, seals of fictitious companies, bank cards, computer equipment, and financial documents proving the scheme’s existence.

At present, all five suspects have been detained. They are expected to be formally charged under two articles of Ukraine’s Criminal Code:

• Part 3, Article 212 (tax evasion);
• Part 3, Article 209 (legalization of assets obtained through crime).

The perpetrators face up to 12 years in prison with confiscation of property.

Previously, we reported on other cases of high-level corruption. For instance, according to a journalistic investigation, Vitaliy Shabunin, head of the Anti-Corruption Action Center, owns real estate in the United States worth over $1 million.

It was also reported that Ukraine’s National Anti-Corruption Bureau accused SBU Cybersecurity Department director Illia Vitiuk of illicit enrichment and submitting false information in his asset declaration.