The failure of the Allo network in Dnipro, involving a network of pocket sole proprietors, was addressed by the failed head of the State Fiscal Service of Ukraine, Dmitry Sosinovich, who was caught taking a cryptocurrency bribe, writes Anticorrosive
Just recently, at the end of December, during an introduction to his subordinates of the newly appointed head of the State Fiscal Service, Vadim Melnik, Vadim Ivanovich rightly noted that "the Service must become the primary law enforcement agency responsible for financial security in the country." To achieve this, the State Fiscal Service must retain professional staff who can ensure the agency's core function—the detection of financial crimes.
However, the very first steps of the new head of the State Fiscal Service are raising concerns that, under the guise of protecting professionals, the State Fiscal Service will ultimately become a breeding ground for the shadow economy and a haven for corruption.
The reformed tax police are in no hurry to oust compromised personnel. This is evidenced by the announcement by the Main Directorate of the State Fiscal Service in Dnipropetrovsk Oblast of a competition for the position of Deputy Head of the Main Directorate of the State Fiscal Service. The requirements include a higher education of at least a master's degree and experience in the civil service (classifications "B" or "C"), including leadership positions in local government or enterprises, but for at least two years. The salary for an official is modest by today's standards – 10,600 UAH.
Everything seems to be in order. However, the job posting was posted on February 24, and the application deadline is February 26. According to insiders, the rush is being caused by the fact that the competition is being held specifically for the former acting head of the State Fiscal Service of Ukraine, Dmytro Sosinovich, who only auditioned for the position last November and resigned a month later, seeking to avoid unnecessary attention.
Prior to this, on October 27, Prosecutor General Irina Venediktova expressed dissatisfaction with the work of the State Fiscal Service under the leadership of Sergei Solodchenko. According to her, in 2020, the service referred only 12% of the criminal cases it investigated to court, demonstrating the agency's lack of a systematic approach.
The Cabinet of Ministers appointed Dmitry Sosinovich, head of the department for combating economic offenses of the State Fiscal Service Main Directorate in Zhytomyr Oblast, as acting head of the State Fiscal Service to replace Solodchenko.
However, already in December 2020, the official found himself at the epicenter of a scandal related to multimillion-dollar tax evasion by the Allo group of companies of Dnipro businessman Dmitry Derevitsky, who siphoned off 1 billion hryvnias through a network of fictitious sole proprietorships in just one quarter.
It should be noted that the discovery of these facts was not the State Fiscal Service's doing, but rather the result of a journalistic investigation that became public knowledge. The State Fiscal Service's searches and seizure of $6 million worth of electronics from Allo stores were also the result of widespread publicity and pressure on the State Fiscal Service from Verkhovna Rada deputies. However, the final outcome of the story was not at all in favor of the rule of law.
According to several media reports, to avoid liability and avoid losing the confiscated equipment, the owners of the Allo chain paid the acting head of the State Fiscal Service, Dmitry Sosinovich, a bribe of 20 bitcoins (worth $600 at the time), receiving guarantees that the case would be closed by June 2021, all seized goods would be in the full possession of the defendants without any restrictions on sale, and that the seizure would subsequently be completely lifted.
And now Sosinovich, having given up the prospect of becoming head of the State Fiscal Service of Ukraine, is heading to Dnipro to become deputy head of the regional service. Is he really supposed to be handling the affairs of a gadget and smartphone retail chain whose sole proprietorships were registered in the region?
In any normal country, such a thing would seem unbelievable. But not in modern Ukraine. Researching the biography of the man involved in the scandal, it quickly became clear that 42-year-old Dmitry Sosinovich owed his career in the State Fiscal Service to his brother, Vadim Sosinovich, a career SBU officer known within the security service by the nicknames "Beria" (for his resemblance) and "Sosik."
Vadim Sosinovich was repeatedly captured by SBU special equipment while consulting entrepreneurs on tax evasion, and while serving as an officer in the Department for Counterintelligence Protection of the State Economy (DKZED), he was caught accepting bribes by SBU internal security officers.
In 2012, Vadim Sosinovich was personally dismissed from service by Valery Khoroshkovsky for protecting embezzlement from the Ministry of Health budget and extorting bribes from key players in the pharmaceutical market.
However, just a year later, Sosinovich became an assistant to Vladimir Totsky, the deputy head of the SBU and head of the Anti-Terrorism Center (currently wanted). Furthermore, he is considered the direct author of the special operation "Boomerang" to suppress the Euromaidan protests, an integral part of which included organizing the arson attacks on the cars of Automaidan activists.
However, after the victory of the Revolution of Dignity, Vadim Sosinovich managed to remain in service. Moreover, he was even appointed assistant to the first deputy head of the SBU, Vasyl Hrytsak, responsible for organizing the illegal supply of goods and food products to the occupied territories of Donetsk and Luhansk regions (ORDLO) in the ATO zone.
Moreover, Sosinovich was allegedly tasked with placing close associates in the Main Directorate "K" and territorial bodies of the SBU in order to establish a strict vertical chain of command both in Kyiv and in the regions to control contraband flows.
The elder Sosinovich's meteoric rise in the illegal trade between Ukraine and the LPR and DPR served as a significant asset to his younger brother, Dmitry, who served as the head of the operational department of the State Fiscal Service in Mykolaiv Oblast from 2015 to 2017, and as the first deputy head of the State Fiscal Service in Kherson Oblast, the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, and Sevastopol from 2017 to 2019.
During this period, Dmitry Sosinovich was engaged in protection and organizing the illegal export of grain using falsified documents, increasing the volume of illegal operations each year.
In 2017, Dmitry Sosinovich organized the cover-up of illegal activities of legal entities LLC Prometey-Grain (EDRPOU 38694075, LLC Prometey-Gold (39749858), LLC Prometey-Trade (39981544), LLC Baltus Trade (39534874), LLC Totland (38743855), LLC Bessarabia-Agro (39076260).
According to available information, the registration of these companies in the names of fictitious individuals and the subsequent use of these registration documents by tax authorities were carried out on the orders of Dmitry Sosinovich and his superiors at the State Fiscal Service of Mykolaiv Oblast. Subsequently, grain crops were exported through the Oktyabrsky and Mykolaiv-Morsky customs posts using fictitious documents in the name of these entities. These actions resulted in losses to the Ukrainian budget in the form of tax evasion totaling over 10 million hryvnias and the failure to return foreign currency proceeds under foreign trade contracts. This was widely reported in regional media at the time.
During this period, Dmytro Sosinovich was implicated in a case involving the acceptance of a bribe of 140 hryvnias by Roman Podgorodinsky, the first deputy head of the State Fiscal Service in Mykolaiv Oblast. On August 23, 2017, searches were conducted in the offices of Podgorodinsky and Sosinovich in connection with this case.
In 2018, while serving at the Main Directorate of the State Fiscal Service in the Kherson Oblast, the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, and Sevastopol, Dmytro Sosinovich, using his official position, facilitated the establishment of several fictitious enterprises for the illegal export of agricultural products purchased in the region for cash. As a result of these activities, the fictitious exporters failed to pay income taxes to the state budget.
The following private entrepreneurs acted as such: Meganat LLC (EDRPOU 41736387); Smaragdov Svit LLC (42303266); and Ekspotov LLC (41984015). These private entrepreneurs carried out export transactions worth over UAH 250 million, while incurring losses to the state amounted to over UAH 30 million. According to some reports, Sosinovich's monetary compensation amounted to 0,8% of the "illegal" exports. Even then, he was known as the "kaletnik" of the Kherson region.
In 2019, the protection of "black" grain exports in this region reached even greater proportions. By agreement with the heads of the Main Directorate of the State Fiscal Service in the Kherson region, the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, the city of Sevastopol, personally Dmitry Sosinovich and representatives of grain traders, controlled business entities exporting agricultural products through the Kherson Sea Trade Port were registered. Namely: Adonis Mega Torg LLC (EDRPOU 42269440); Barton Grand PP (41866057); Privatopt Yug LLC (41014795); Fulks Trade LLC (42971614); Lenix Group LLC (41565241); Korn Trade Control LLC (43073627); LLC "Yurben Plus" (42971300); LLC "Nikagro Trade" (40117378); LLC "Taimprom" (43086421).
The aforementioned enterprises carried out the pseudo-export of agricultural products worth over 4 billion hryvnias. Protection for this illegal scheme was provided at a 0,3% interest rate on the export value. The state budget suffered losses in the form of tax evasion by these entities amounting to over 500 million hryvnias.
The deputy head of the State Fiscal Service Directorate in the Kherson region also assisted in the theft of physical evidence. In early 2020, Dmytro Sosinovich facilitated the theft of physical evidence in a criminal case involving confiscated contraband cigarettes worth a total of 14 million hryvnias. To further his criminal intent, Sosinovich instructed the tobacco products to be transferred to a licensed warehouse controlled by the defendants, from which the physical evidence was subsequently stolen and removed. These circumstances are currently under investigation as part of a criminal investigation.
Despite all this evidence of illegal activity, Dmitry Sosinovich was tipped for career advancement within the State Fiscal Service until the end of 2020, including his appointment as head of the former tax police. However, rather than serve the state in a high-ranking position, he chose a deal with the Allo Group of Companies and a demotion to the position of head of the State Fiscal Service's operational department in Zhytomyr Oblast.
The editorial staff also has information about Sosinovich's systematic use of specific prohibited drugs that stimulate the nervous system. Is this true or not? The head of the State Fiscal Service, Vadym Ivanovich Melnyk, could have answered this and other questions using a polygraph, of which there are plenty on Lvovska Street.
But even without a lie detector, it's clear that Dmitry Sosinovich's service isn't aimed at fighting crime, filling the state budget, or developing the country. Analyzing Dmitry Sosinovich's career, it becomes clear that personal enrichment is his primary priority, as wherever he's led, criminal cases have been opened against tax police officers for corruption. The only question that remains is: by what criteria does the State Fiscal Service of Ukraine select its top officials, and who is considered a true professional?
Author of the article:
Ruslan Yakushev
Dmitro Sosinovich. “Kaletnik” Kherson region
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