Law enforcement officers reported the suspicion to the current MP, who organized the illegal crossing of the border of his acquaintances.
This was reported to the State Bureau of Investigation (SBI) and the Prosecutor Generalʼs Office (PGO).
The agencies do not name the person involved, but according to Babelʼs sources, it is Kostyantyn Bondarev, an MP from “Motherland”.
According to the investigation, since July 2022, the MP has been sending letters on his behalf to the State Border Service of Ukraine requesting permission to leave for men disguised as drivers who were allegedly supposed to accompany him abroad.
There are 23 known cases where, based on such letters, 18 men of draft age crossed the state border without him. The deputy himself was either already abroad at that moment or did not leave the country at all.
At the same time, sometimes he needed up to five drivers at the same time for trips abroad. Three of these “drivers” did not return to Ukraine.
The MP was informed of suspicion of organizing the illegal smuggling of people across the state border using his official position and of official forgery (Part 2 of Article 332, Part 1 of Article 366 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine). He faces up to seven years in prison.
The MP was also handed a petition for the election of a preventive measure in the form of detention, which will be submitted for consideration by an investigating judge.
Law enforcement officers are conducting searches at the MP and people who traveled abroad in this way.
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