The Ministry of Internal Affairs has begun to demonstrate the peak of its activity: the arrest of the head of the Ministry of Emergency Situations, Sergei Bochkovsky, and his deputy, Vasily Stoetsky, within the walls of the Cabinet of Ministers, the creation of "flying" squads to identify corrupt officials, and the beginning of "purges" in the structural divisions of the Ministry of Internal Affairs in regional centers.
The beginning of last week was marked by the arrest of the head of the Ministry of Emergency Situations, Serhiy Bochkovsky, and his first deputy, Vasyl Stoyetsky, during an extended meeting of the Cabinet of Ministers. The subsequent chronology of events demonstrates the haste with which the Main Investigative Department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs acted. Literally a day later, the Pechersky District Court of Kyiv refused to arrest Bochkovsky and Stoyetsky due to a lack of sufficient evidence.
The investigation took advantage of its position and remanded both EMERCOM employees in custody for 72 hours. On March 28, the Pechersky District Court (just before their detention period expired – ed.) ordered their arrest and ordered bail for Bochkovsky alone, amounting to almost 2 million hryvnias.
A little later, on Friday, following the demonstrative detention of the minister and his deputy, an open meeting of the Ministry of Internal Affairs board was held, where attention was again focused on the fight against corruption in regional police departments, customs, and tax authorities. At the event, Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk gave Arsen Avakov three months to conduct an anti-corruption operation and "make appropriate personnel decisions regarding regional leaders."
The government, albeit belatedly, has begun to demonstrate that it has taken a tough stance on corrupt officials and that a massive purge is to be expected.
Homophages of corruption
For some reason, they decided to carry out the "purges" from the tail, not the head. No one mentioned ministerial purges. Furthermore, it's worth mentioning that several weeks ago, Avakov announced the completion of investigations under the Law of Ukraine "On the Purification of Power" involving 140,817 internal affairs officers. And by elementary logic, all those remaining aren't corrupt officials or lackeys of the Yanukovych regime. And now, once again, an anti-corruption program needs to be implemented within the ranks of the Internal Affairs Directorate.
So why start at the bottom? It would be perfectly reasonable to start with the Ministry of Internal Affairs itself, not the organizations it controls. And the first person to be punished is the one responsible for conducting the inspections—the Chief of Staff of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. Sergei Chebotar for negligent attitude to work and poorly conducted inspections.
Examples abound. The person who oversaw the arrest of the aforementioned Bochkovsky, and who taints the entire picture, is Dmitry But, deputy head of the Main Investigative Directorate. In certain circles, his name is often associated with rigged inspections and groundless raids on businesses by regulatory authorities. In the media, But is implicated in virtually every scandal along with the current deputy head of the 3rd Department of the Main Investigative Directorate, Andrey Poleno. Given the number of critical publications and direct accusations of corporate raiding, the fact that both investigators underwent "lustration" checks by the Ministry of Internal Affairs can hardly be called a typical example of the "inattention" of the police leadership.
The trail of scandals involving these two law enforcement officers extends from Mariupol. On a sailors' forum, they are accused of orchestrating a scheme to issue tax certificates for obtaining seafarers' passports.
"...I know that the tax police in Mariupol, led by But, Poleno, and others, are terrorizing sailors, and I would like to help stop this abuse in any way I can. What are the results of this? There are rumors circulating in Mariupol that when you get a seaman's passport, the captain's office requires a tax certificate!" the statement reads.
Later in 2013, But and Poleno's names surfaced in several scandals involving illegal tax audits and corporate raids in the capital. Now serving as investigators for the State Tax Inspectorate of Ukraine in the Desnyansky District of Kyiv, they were implicated in disputes with Igrovye Tekhnologii LLC and the Mandarin restaurant.
The newspaper Gazeta.ua calls Bout and Poleno "raiders in uniform" and accuses them of belonging to an organized crime group specializing in contract prosecutions of entrepreneurs and corporate raids on successful businesses.
According to the former owners of Igrovye Tekhnologii LLC, it was Andriy Poleno, a State Tax Inspectorate investigator in Kyiv's Desnyansky District, who orchestrated the contracted criminal prosecution of Igrovye Tekhnologii, the ultimate goal of which was to obstruct their business activities and raid their premises in the city center. The businessmen also stated that about a dozen employees dressed as "tax officials" broke into their home and began an unauthorized search of the premises, without identifying themselves or explaining their motives. Their lawyer was also beaten.
A short time later, the situation repeated itself, but with a different legal entity: the same people, the same methods. However, this time, the restaurant "Mandarin" at 32 Moskovsky Prospekt was under investigation. For nearly 24 hours, 15 tax police officers, citing a fictitious court decision, seized documents and financial records. Not a single representative of the restaurant itself was allowed to participate in the proceedings. Only the intervention of the United States Ambassador to Ukraine, John Tefft, who prevented the raid on his fellow countrymen from continuing, saved the "Mandarin" men.
All these actions point to a clear and planned scheme: illegal searches, document seizures, and the "extortion" of banknotes—the so-called "punishment" of fines—all without reference to the budget fund. It's understandable that flaws and minor violations can be found in the economic activities of any enterprise. It's also clear that these two enterprises are just the tip of the iceberg. Many didn't complain and silently paid the inspectors' "tribute." The actions of the "tax officials" cannot be classified otherwise than under Articles 189 (extortion) and 365 (abuse of power).
Magic numbers
It's clear that the above data, even with witness testimony, is insufficient to objectively dismiss these police officers. Therefore, let's look at the tax returns of each of them while serving in the Main Investigative Directorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs.
Dmytro But earned approximately 34,000 hryvnias in 2013 (his salary from the Ministry of Internal Affairs, where he joined the force at the end of September. In other words, But declared only three months' worth of salary). His family earned 210,000 hryvnias. The deputy head of the Main Investigative Directorate owns a 2013 Volkswagen Touareg, while his family owns a similar 2012 model, but in a luxury trim. But also owns 9,8 acres of land and a nice 180-square-meter house, while his family owns a 110-square-meter house. The But family does not own an apartment.
It's worth noting that both cars were purchased on the used market in 2013, the year Bout's tax inspectorate became embroiled in scandals involving corporate raiding and illegal audits. The value of both SUVs exceeds $100,000. Furthermore, Bout "forgot" to declare his ownership of a house in Berdyansk at 125B Makarova Street and several plots of land in the capital's elite village of Gorenichi, in the Kyivo-Svyatoshinsky district, worth tens of thousands of dollars.
But put the villa up for sale and valued it at 12,220,000 UAH! Interestingly, in his asset declaration, But indicated that he owned a 180-square-meter residential building, while the hotel on the Berdyansk Spit was 360 square meters. He likely "forgot" about the other 180 square meters or didn't want to stand out. A police officer's life is hard, what can you say? And Avakov has repeatedly stated that police salaries need to be raised.
Andriy Poleno, on the other hand, has fewer discrepancies in his income declaration. With a personal income of 50 hryvnias and family income of 94 hryvnias, he declares he owns a 10-year-old Daewoo Lanos, and the family also owns three KAMAZ trucks.
But upon closer inspection, it turned out that Poleno drives a luxury Toyota Land Cruiser 200 (priced from $80,000). He was seen driving this car, with license plates AN 0887 MN, during the conflict at the Mandarin restaurant. Now, according to his colleagues, the GSU investigator is driving the same jeep, but with license plates AA 0887 MN. It's noteworthy that there's no record of this license plate being issued in the MREO database. In other words, it was never issued. It's possible that the plates are counterfeit, and the car is either uncleared through customs or seized from Donetsk entrepreneurs during the ATO.
It's worth noting that the Toyota Land Cruiser 200 has a 4,7-liter engine, yet its fuel consumption in the city is 22-25 liters per 100 kilometers. There's concern that the Poleno family, with an annual income of 144,000 hryvnias, is only able to afford gasoline for their car.
In addition to all the above facts, it's worth adding that both Dmitry But and Andriy Poleno held leadership positions in the security forces for over a year during Viktor Yanukovych's rule and were deeply entrenched in the system of wholesale extortion and harassment.
Given this development, it appears that the exemplary arrest of one corrupt official was overseen by another, who had already been vetted by a third? After all, a comparison of these incidents is sufficient to launch a full-scale investigation of both heads of investigation. But Sergei Chebotar, for reasons clear only to himself, failed to see any signs of corruption in these reports and kept them in their positions.
Moreover, Bout, while supervising the detention of the highest-ranking state official, failed to even bother to learn the rules of procedural law, resulting in a number of errors: he arrived without a ruling from the investigating judge, confused the articles of the Criminal Procedure Code and detained Bochkovsky under a different article, failed to properly explain the suspect's rights, etc. Thus, the deputy head of the Main Investigative Directorate demonstrated his professional competence to the entire country in front of numerous cameras.
And there are more than a few such "Buratinos" in the department. Many veterans of the Ministry of Internal Affairs have extensive rap sheets for pressuring entrepreneurs, aiding in the seizure of companies, and the usual, now-banal, protection racket, while most of them are on familiar terms with the law. Why not start with them? Then Avakov's actions will appear more sincere. Otherwise, the anti-corruption efforts will be eroded when investigators are uninterested in punishing criminals, and the authorities continue to erect barriers to combat bribery. The only question is whether this is a genuine fight or the now-familiar populism and empty talk.
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