The authorities of Ukraine announced this Monday the 24th that they have remanded a former army colonel on suspicion of spending €4 million (about R$20.9 million at current exchange rates) to buy a luxury property Spain during the Russian invasion.
The National Investigation Bureau (DBR), charged with investigating highlevel corruption cases, was arrested Yevgen Borisov in Kiev, two days after a search warrant was issued against him.
Colonel Borisov was responsible for mobilization and recruitment in the Odessa region in the south of the country until he resigned at the end of June following revelations in the local press.
Colonel Yevgen Borissov was responsible for mobilization and recruitment in the Odessa region in the south of the country until he resigned at the end of June following revelations in the local press.
He is suspected of “illicit enrichment” and preventing conscription into the armed forces. According to the DBR, he faces a prison sentence of “up to ten years”.
The cabinet said in May that in exchange for bribes, the colonel had ordered his subordinates not to recruit certain individuals while Russia’s invasion of the country began in February 2022.
The case was exposed by an influential Ukrainian vehicle, according to which Yevgen Borisov’s mother, a retired military man, became the owner of a €4 million property in December 2022 in the city of Marbella, a popular and soughtafter tourist destination in southern Spain.
The colonel’s wife also bought a commercial building in Marbella for around €740,000 and the motherinlaw has bought several luxury cars in recent years, the same source says.
The National AntiCorruption Agency (NAZK) said last week that it suspected this former soldier had “illegally enriched” and amassed a fortune of 188 million hryvnia (about $23 million).
Learn more about the war in Ukraine
Fighting corruption, an endemic disease in Ukraine, is one of the prerequisites for the EU to maintain its membership candidacy. Since the beginning of the year, the country’s anticorruption authorities have uncovered two notorious scandals.
In May, the president of the Supreme Federal Court was arrested in a corruption case, and in January, a scandal involving irregularities in the supply of the army led to a series of dismissals in ministries, in regional administrations and in the Ukrainian judiciary.AFP