New details of the jewelry store robbery on Gorodetsky Street: the shock of Berdyansk's owner, the fury of Prosecutor General Yarema, an internal investigation at the Pechersk Prosecutor's Office, the fear of tipster Lodochnikov, and the taboo surrounding the "Klymenko case." The Prosecutor's Truth pieced together the puzzle of victims and defendants in the high-profile law enforcement crime in central Kyiv, which triggered a chain reaction against seemingly disparate individuals.
Yes, this is another CCTV video from the Graf salon, where masked officers from the Sokol special unit of the Department for Combating Organized Crime (UBOP) burst in on Monday, supposedly to conduct a search. The corresponding ruling from the Pechersk Court was indeed in the hands of the security forces. What's most surprising is that while they officially claimed they were looking for counterfeit goods (watches, jewelry, etc.), in fact, the search was conducted as part of the investigation into former Minister of Defense Alexander Klimenko! Regardless, instead of conducting legal proceedings, the cops and prosecutors robbed the jewelry store...
The lust for profit so blinded the valiant law enforcement officers that even the most seasoned and experienced investigators lost their minds. As a result, the entire country witnessed the heroism of the would-be investigators, witnesses, and even the procedural supervisor, all simultaneously stuffing jewelry and watches into their pockets. Eleven cameras simultaneously captured these moments, resulting in the theft of jewelry worth approximately $2 million!
After reviewing the results of the "search" and taking the videotapes with him, Dmitry Berdyansky, owner of the Kristall chain, went straight to Prosecutor General Vitaly Yarema. According to the Prosecutor's Truth, Yarema was shocked by what he saw—it's not every day you're presented with actual evidence of a robbery involving your subordinates, especially in one of the stores most familiar to Ukrainian VIPs.
Apologies, organizational conclusions, and reactions followed—both official and not entirely.
So, Yarema did indeed apologize to "Berd" (the nickname of the owner of the Graf salon and the Crystal chain), and not only in person but also in front of television cameras at his own press conference. Two cases have been opened: under Part 3 of Article 365 (abuse of power) and Part 5 of Article 185 (large-scale theft) of the Criminal Code of Ukraine.
The organizational conclusions so far are as follows:
— the very next day after the robbery, the prosecutor of the Pechersky district and the investigator who conducted the search in the store were detained;
— Another suspect, investigator Vasilenko, went on the run and is currently wanted.
— The case's "supervisor," Deputy Prosecutor General Oleksiy Baganets, who had authorized the search, also came under fire. On Wednesday, the new deputy head of the Prosecutor General's Office, Oleg Zalisko, began occupying his office.
But that's far from all. According to the Prosecutor General's Office, Yarema has no intention of stopping at a "little bloodshed"—the list of those targeted will undoubtedly include a number of employees of the Pechersk Prosecutor's Office in the capital (an internal investigation has already been initiated there), as well as the Investigative Directorate of the Prosecutor General's Office itself.
The fate of investigator Lodochnikov, who is leading the case against former Revenue and Duties Minister Oleksandr Klimenko, is on the brink of disaster. According to our Prosecutor General's Office sources, it was this investigator who tipped off his colleagues to "Graf." According to the Prosecutor General's Office, it was this investigator who "attached" a jewelry smuggling incident and its sale through the "Kristall" network to Klimenko's case. He justified this by claiming that both Klim and Berd were "Donetsk natives," and therefore longtime friends... Whether this is true is difficult to say. The fact remains that this is a fantastical self-exposure of the livelihood schemes of the "quiet" and quite "Euromaidan" Prosecutor General's Office investigators. And after this "exposure," Yarema raged, nursing a grudge.
Incidentally, Baganets, who was familiar with the former chief's character, quietly left the GPU, so as not to be an eyesore to Yarema and not run into more serious trouble than a cushy job on Reznitskaya Street...
Lodochnikov, like Bagants, was even less fortunate. While lawyer Lutsenko had already earned a living over the years, the Odessa-born investigator failed to make a buck at Graf, and the case against Klimenko yielded scant results (and no evidence was collected at all within six months).
And then there's the Prosecutor General with his idea of creating a prosecutor's battalion from among those who have committed offenses and sending them "for re-education" to the ATO zone...
In light of all of the above, the Prosecutor's Office has a few questions:
Is it true that Lodochnikov demanded a 20% share from his accomplices for a tip on the jewelry store? Will the GPU investigator be fired for going AWOL and committing lawlessness with "Graf"?
— What kind of discount did Berdyansky promise Yarema at the Crystal chain for the latter's slapping of prosecutors and police thieves?
Why did Yarema decide to abandon the idea of creating a "prosecutor's" battalion to be sent to the ATO zone if not all of his subordinates understand that a new way of life is needed?
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