- Head of Ukraine's Medical Commission caught with millions of dollars
- Official with links to President Zelensky's party
- Cases of corruption continue to be recorded at the highest levels of government
Head of Ukraine's Medical Commission caught with millions of dollars
The Ukrainian media report a major corruption scandal. Ukrainian officials are reported to have searched the home of Tetyana Krupa, the head of the medical commission in Khmelnytskyi region, on the border with Romania and Moldova.
More than €5 million in cash was found in her home and another €100,000 in her office. Money was also found in other premises belonging to this official. Officials say that in total, almost 6 million in various currencies were found in cash alone.
Law enforcement authorities have found that Krupa and her family own as many as 30 real estate properties in Khmelnytsky, Lviv, and Kyiv, 9 luxury cars, and an almost 3,000-square-metre restaurant complex in one of the parks of Chemlnicki.
Abroad, the family owns real estate in Austria, Spain, and Turkey and has almost USD 2.3 million in foreign banks. However, their annual declarations have not included all these assets [1].
It is reported that these funds have been declared as physical evidence and handed over to the bank for safekeeping. The prosecutor has requested the court to seize them.
If that were not enough, forged medical forms and lists of those who had been rejected for military service, with names and fictitious diagnoses, were also found in the official's office.
The State Bureau of Investigation is now examining the lists of those wishing to escape from the army and comparing them with those found in Krupa's home and office. If it turns out that these persons have fictitious diagnoses, they will also be prosecuted.
Official with links to President Zelensky's party
T. Krupa is currently in detention on bail of 500 million hryvnias. If she is released on bail, she will have to appear at the police station under a summons from the prosecutor or the court, promise not to leave the city, refrain from contacting other possible suspects, and hand over her passport.
She will reportedly be held in custody until at least 3 December 2024. The woman is charged with illicit enrichment under Article 368-5 of the Ukrainian Criminal Code. If proven guilty in the case, she faces up to 10 years of imprisonment with confiscation of all assets.
According to RBC-Ukraine, Krupa is not only the head of the Khmelnytsky Regional Medical and Social Expertise Centre and an honorary doctor but also a member of the Khmelnytsky regional group of MPs with the People's Servant party, to which the President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, belongs. However, according to some sources, she left the party shortly after the elections.
T. Krupa's husband, Volodymyr Krupa, was the head of the State Audit Service of the Khmelnytsky region. This body's main task is to carry out audits and inspections to ensure the efficient use of budget funds and state assets. Their son Oleksandr heads the Khmelnytsky Regional Pension Fund.
Cases of corruption continue to be recorded at the highest levels of government
Meanwhile, the debate on corruption in Ukraine continues to be relevant. Ukraine's Minister of Defence, Rustem Umerov, recently sacked three of his deputies and the State Secretary after announcing a major reform of the wartime defense management sector.
"This means that all internal processes must be clear and controlled. Any attempts to influence them, whether external or internal, are unacceptable. In this context, staff changes are taking place. I have signed a submission to the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine on the dismissal of Deputy Ministers Stanislav Haider, Oleksandr Serhiy, Yuriy Dzhir and State Secretary Lyudmila Darahan," said Umerov.
Last year, Ukraine's National Anti-Corruption Bureau announced that former Spetstechnoexport executives were suspected of laundering more than $2 million in 2014-2015, the first year of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
At the beginning of the year, the Ukrainian media was informed that almost one million USD in bribes were found during searches of the former head of the military medical commission of the Chernihiv region. The former head of the Chernihiv Military Medical Commission was arrested after taking a new bribe. During searches at his home, a total of almost 1 million dollars and more than 22,000 euros were found[2].
At the same time, there was other news about the extent of corruption in the country. Ukrainian law enforcement officials announced that they had detained and issued notices of suspicion against two officers of the Kherson zonal branch of the Military Law Enforcement Service. It was reported that these officers had extorted money from military officers detained for administrative offenses.
In return for bribes, they offered to ensure that the court dismissed their cases or to impose a minimum fine. In case of refusal, they threatened to draw up documents so that the offending military personnel would receive the maximum punishment.
It was also claimed that a doctor from the Military Medical Examination Centre, who demanded CZK 5,000 from a soldier, was also detained. The soldier was asked to pay 5 USD to a soldier for declaring him unfit for duty. According to the investigation, in January 2024, the suspect extorted USD 5 000 from the soldier and claimed that he would write a medical certificate such that the military medical board would immediately declare the soldier unfit for duty and remove him from military registration.
Law enforcement officials detained the doctor, and the prosecutor's office requested that the court remand the suspect in custody. Such schemes have been detected in Kyiv, Transcarpathia, and Ternopil oblasts.
The scheme's three organizers include an advisor to former Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych's chief of staff and an official of the military medical commission.
According to the investigation, they took bribes of up to USD 10,000 from each man who avoided military service. For this money, the defendants helped the men escape abroad by bypassing checkpoints or using forged documents[3].
In Ukraine, USAID conducted a national survey in 2023, in which 94% of respondents said they believed corruption was widespread in the country to one degree or another.
