The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU), the Prosecutor General’s Office (PGO) and the State Bureau of Investigation (DBR) have announced new charges against the head of the National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) branch in Dnipro, Ruslan Magamedrasulov, the SBU press service reported.
“During the pre-trial investigation, investigators established that, in addition to helping his father in trade with the Russian Federation, the NABU official, using his connections and official influence, engaged in actions aimed at illegal tax schemes involving Ukrainian businesses. The SSU, PGO and DPR obtained this information, in particular, from the suspect’s phone,” the statement reads.
According to case materials, earlier this year the suspect received a proposal from one of his contacts to resolve problematic issues in the tax authorities for a number of Ukrainian companies.
Based on the available correspondence, the matter concerned unlawful decisions by the State Tax Service to exclude about ten companies from the list of risky ones. This would have allowed the parties involved to conduct financial operations worth almost UAH 30 million.
An analysis of the firms’ activities showed signs of their affiliation with a “conversion center.”
According to case materials, in exchange for this “service,” the contact promised to transfer an undue benefit of UAH 900,000 to the NABU official.
The bureau detective allegedly accepted the proposal and attempted to resolve the issue through a former senior official of the State Tax Service. He also sought help from a law enforcement officer with whom he had previously worked at NABU. During questioning, these individuals confirmed that the NABU employee had indeed approached them with such a request.
On the basis of the evidence collected, the suspect was notified of new charges under Part 2 of Article 369-2 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (abuse of influence).
The SBU emphasized that the case concerns an individual NABU employee and is unrelated to the bureau’s effectiveness as a state institution as a whole.
As reported by Ukrinform, on July 22 SSU head Vasyl Maliuk stated that the security service had documented cooperation with the enemy by Ruslan Magamedrasulov, head of NABU’s Dnipro branch, and his father.
According to the SBU, investigators also recorded correspondence between the NABU official’s father and a representative of an agricultural company in Dagestan regarding the sale of industrial hemp. The information was allegedly found on the suspect’s phone. Magamedrasulov was charged under Article 111-2 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (aiding the aggressor state).
He and his father were remanded in custody.
On August 22, the SBU released case materials, including fragments of the suspect’s father’s correspondence about selling industrial hemp, which investigators claim was conducted with representatives of Russia’s Republic of Dagestan.
Earlier, on July 26, NABU director Semen Kryvonos said the bureau had been unaware of the SBU’s information about Magamedrasulov allegedly helping his father sell industrial hemp to Russia until searches were conducted.
At the same time, the NGO “Anti-Corruption Action Center” alleged possible falsification of case materials. According to the organization, the conversation referred not to Dagestan but to Uzbekistan.
The NGO also suggested that the case against Magamedrasulov was linked to his NABU work documenting businessman Tymur Mindich.
Magamedrasulov himself, in an interview with NV, did not confirm that he had been handling Mindich’s case.