The first documented bribe in cryptocurrency in Ukraine: MP from the Anti-Corruption Committee tried to transfer it
The National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine and the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office have announced the disclosure of a number of crimes related to the restoration of Ukraine involving Bitcoin.
On its Telegram channel, the NABU reported that the MP had been exposed for “attempting to bribe a top official with bitcoin.” This post is accompanied by the hashtag #BigRevelationsDay.
“A Ukrainian MP, a member of the Committee on Anti-Corruption Policy, offered the head of the State Agency for Infrastructure Restoration and Development an unlawful benefit in the cryptocurrency Bitcoin, equivalent to $50,000,” the anti-corruption agency said in a statement.
In exchange for the money, this MP asked for assistance in obtaining funds from the fund for liquidation of the consequences of the armed aggression of the Russian Federation to repair the infrastructure facility under his control. After the fund was disbursed, the first tranche of the bribe, equivalent to $10,000, was transferred to the whistleblower’s crypto wallet.
The NABU claims that this is the first cryptocurrency bribe in the history of anti-corruption agencies that has been documented.
The agency did not name any names, but the Judicial and Legal Newspaper writes that it is a member of the Servant of the People faction, Andriy Odarchenko, who tried to bribe the head of the State Agency for Infrastructure Restoration and Development, Mustafa Nayem. Odarchenko is a member of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Anti-Corruption Policy.
It is alleged that the corrupt official was served with a notice of suspicion under part. 4 Art. 369 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine, which provides for imprisonment for a term of five to ten years with or without confiscation of property.
