Ukrainian Security Service Implicated in Corruption 

 

TT

 

Published 12.29

 

Corruption allegations have been leveled against several high-ranking individuals in Ukraine, including people close to President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Image from Kyiv in October. Photo: Efrem Lukatsky/AP/TT

A “criminal group” has systematically bribed high-ranking officials within Ukraine’s justice system, according to the country’s anti-corruption bureau, NABU.

The bribes were allegedly intended to protect criminal operations involving fraudulent call centers, reports The Kyiv Independent.

According to NABU and SAPO—an anti-corruption unit within the prosecutor’s office—high-ranking officials from the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU), the police, and the prosecutor’s office are involved.

On Wednesday morning, searches were conducted at the homes and offices of several SBU officials, according to Ukrainian media.

The exposure of this group is part of an investigation into a larger corruption scandal currently rocking Ukraine. In September, NABU and SAPO announced the discovery of a money-laundering operation with links to the Prosecutor General’s Office; this led to the departure of the then-Prosecutor General, Ruslan Kravchenko, who subsequently fled the country.