Case description
On August 21, 2023, the HACC convicted Oleksandr Haranovskyi, senior investigator of the Mykolaiv Regional Department of the State Bureau of Investigation. During the search, he first illegally seized and later returned to the person the money that was supposed to be at the disposal of the customs authorities. For these abuses, he was sentenced to probation for 3 years.
SBI investigator Haranovskyi interfered with the work of the customs authorities at a border crossing point. The official illegally seized USD 716,000 from a citizen and later returned it, although it was the subject of an administrative case.
In July 2022, Viktor Kudlai, who headed the trade union of the company that ran the 7th Kilometer market in Odesa, was punished for violating customs rules. In March of the same year, he tried to take the money to the EU, but customs officers found it at the bottom of the suitcase lining and seized it. The money was later confiscated by the court, but Haranovskyi had already returned the money to Kudlai by that time, so the decision could not be enforced.
In addition, the investigation suspected Haranovskyi of similarly seizing and returning USD 541,000 to another citizen in April 2022 under similar circumstances.
The former official was charged with Article 364, part 2; Article 343, part 2; Article 343, part 2 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine. The court sentenced him to 5 years in prison, effectively releasing him from serving his sentence with a probationary period of 3 years. In addition, Haranovskyi was fined UAH 17,000 and deprived of the right to hold certain positions for 2 years.
