The Appellate Chamber of the High Anti-Corruption Court (HACC) overturned the decision to close the case against Odesa businessman Vadym Alperin. Volodymyr Zelensky called him "one of the compadres of smuggling in Ukraine."
This is stated on HACC website.
Based on the results of the review, the panel of judges ordered a retrial of the case in the court of first instance. The decision became legally binding from the moment it was promulgated and is not subject to appeal in the cassation procedure.
Alperinʼs case concerns the importation of goods with a reduced customs value to avoid paying taxes. HACC closed it on October 12, 2023, the defense side used the so-called "Lozovyi amendments".
In addition to Alperin, the case includes five more defendants, including the former director of the Department of Customs Payments Administration of the State Fiscal Service Alina Skomarova (Danchenko) and the ex-deputy head of the Kyiv Customs Serhiy Tupalskyi.
The National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) began investigating this case in September 2017. The suspicion of Alperin and a number of other persons involved was announced in November 2019. Damages from one episode alone amount to 77 million hryvnias, the investigation estimates the total damages at half a billion hryvnias.
Alperin was accused of creating a criminal organization, tax evasion and abuse of position.