On Thursday, October 12, the Higher Anti-Corruption Court (HACC) decided to close the criminal proceedings against Odesa businessman Vadym Alperin, who was called the "king of smuggling".
This was reported by the Anti-Corruption Center.
The decision was made by HACC judges Oleksiy Kravchuk, Yevhen Kruk and Inna Bilous. The full text will be declared on October 17. The defense side used the so-called "Lozovyi amendments". The lawyers insisted that this case should be closed, because the investigation period was allegedly extended by an unauthorized entity.
What are the "Lozovyi amendments"?
In October 2017, the Verkhovna Rada (the Ukrainian Parliament) adopted changes to a number of codes, thereby launching judicial reform. The amendment of the then MP Andriy Lozovyi (Oleh Lyashkoʼs radical party) proposed to change a number of articles of the Criminal Procedure Code, in particular, on the mandatory sanction of the court for conducting examinations in criminal proceedings.
- In November 2019, it became known that Vadym Alperin escaped from the law enforcement officers during a special operation to identify corrupt officials at customs — he is involved in a scheme to clear imported goods at reduced prices. The state suffered more than UAH 77 million in losses from the implementation of this scheme. The businessman imported goods in huge quantities, mainly from China. By forging documents, he deliberately understated the customs value of the goods. The customs office, for its part, still evaluated the goods at their true value. Alperin paid taxes in full, but then went to court with fictitious documents and got back all the previously paid taxes.
- On November 27, 2019, Alperin himself came to the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutorʼs Office (SAP), the court arrested him two days later, and then he was released from the pre-trial detention center on bail of UAH 70 million. In early April 2021, the National Security and Defense Council imposed sanctions on Alperin, and on April 14 of the same year, the president terminated his citizenship.
- In September 2022, the Grand Chamber of the Supreme Court considered the lawsuit of Vadym Alperin, who is called the "king of smuggling", against the President of Ukraine. He demanded the annulment of the decree terminating his citizenship. The court did not satisfy the complaint and left the decision of the court of first instance unchanged.