Prosecutor general Kravchenko denies call-center protection claims, orders reviews
Ruslan Kravchenko denied involvement in protecting illegal call centers. (Photo: Prosecutor General’s Office)
Prosecutor General Ruslan Kravchenko denied involvement in
the alleged shielding of illegal call centers and ordered internal reviews at
the Prosecutor General’s Office. Employees connected to such cases will also
undergo polygraph tests, the Prosecutor General’s Office reported on Sept. 6.
Kravchenko said he had not instructed anyone to facilitate
the operations of illegal call centers or used his authority as prosecutor
general for that purpose.
He added that an employee of the Prosecutor General’s Office
who figures in an investigation by the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of
Ukraine, or NABU, and the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office, or
SAPO, has already been suspended from duty. Kravchenko said he also ordered that
paperwork be prepared for the employee’s dismissal.
The prosecutor general ordered reviews of the Department of
International Cooperation, where the employee worked, and the cybercrime unit.
Kravchenko added that all employees in units involved in prosecutorial
oversight and investigations of illegal call center cases must undergo
polygraph tests.
Based on the findings, Kravchenko promised staffing and
administrative decisions and, where warranted, criminal procedural measures.
He also cited figures on efforts to combat call centers:
Over the past 12 months, law enforcement officers conducted more than 1,050
searches, shut down about 340 call centers and more than 5,000 operator
workstations.
Kravchenko said detectives were given full access to his
office during investigative actions and faced no obstruction.
He also denied reports that a safe shown in a photo
circulated by media outlets and on social media was located at the Prosecutor
General’s Office.
On Sept. 4, NABU announced a special operation that
uncovered a criminal organization allegedly led by an employee of the
Prosecutor General’s Office. Ukrainska Pravda sources said NABU
and SAPO detained Serhii Kropyva, head of the Prosecutor General’s Office cyber
department. NABU and SAPO said an official from the Prosecutor General’s
Office may have been involved in shielding a network of fraudulent call centers
and laundering assets.
The Prosecutor General’s Office later said it was prepared
to fully cooperate with anti-corruption agencies investigating the possible
involvement of one of its employees in illegal activity linked to fraudulent
call centers.
Ukrainska Pravda, citing sources, reported that NABU and
SAPO conducted searches involving Prosecutor General Ruslan Kravchenko, his
deputy Mariia Vdovychenko and Odesa Oblast Military Administration head Oleh
Kiper.
NABU said five people had been implicated in proceedings
under Article 255 of Ukraine’s Criminal Code, covering the creation or
leadership of a criminal organization and participation in one, and Article
209, covering the laundering of property. Those convicted face up to 15 years
in prison.
The Prosecutor General’s Office denied reports on the
evening of Sept. 4 that Ruslan Kravchenko had been searched. Office
spokesperson Mariana Haiovska told Ukrainska Pravda
that no investigative actions had been conducted at either the prosecutor
general’s home or office.
On Sept. 5, the Prosecutor General’s Office said
that “around midnight, NABU detectives nevertheless conducted investigative
actions in offices used by the prosecutor general, the first deputy prosecutor
general, as well as other employees and units of the Prosecutor General’s
Office.”
The office said the scope of those investigative actions,
their factual basis and the list of materials accessed required a separate
legal assessment.
“Among the documents accessed during the searches were
materials from a criminal case concerning possible unlawful actions by people
close to individuals connected with SAPO’s leadership. The case was
investigated under the procedural supervision of the Prosecutor General’s
Office. SAPO’s leadership was aware of its existence and the progress of the
investigation. In addition, detectives gained access to materials from another
criminal case, including information obtained through covert investigative
actions concerning possible unlawful activity by NABU and SAPO employees,” the
Prosecutor General’s Office said.
The office also said the court order authorizing the
searches at the Prosecutor General’s Office contained no information that
Kravchenko had instructed anyone to facilitate the operations of call centers,
obstructed their exposure or investigation, warned anyone about planned
investigative actions, received money from such activity or any improper
benefit, or used criminal proceeds to pay for renovations, alarm system
installation or other services.
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