A Ukrainian court has ruled not to return UAH 7 million in bail put up by relatives for Member of Parliament Boryslav Rozenblat, the Specialized Anti-corruption Prosecutor’s Office (SAPO) wrote on Facebook on May 21.
The court passed the ruling on May 21 while considering a bail return claim filed by the defense of the relatives who paid the bail for Rozenblat after the court had heard both sides.
“Let us remind that the lawmaker is suspected of committing crime stipulated in Clause 4 of Article 368 (obtaining unlawful benefits), Clauses 2 and 3 of Article 369-2 (abuse of power) of the Criminal Code of Ukraine,” the SAPO said on Facebook.
As it was reported, it became known on June 19, 2017 that Rozenblat’s guard had been detained while taking a $200,000 bribe for resolving the issue of licensing the extraction of amber. Later, a number of mass media reported with reference to a source at the National Anti-corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) that the bribe which the guard was detained for was to be paid to two parliamentarians, including Maksym Poliakov.
On June 20, SAPO chief Nazar Kholodnytsky said that six people had been detained in a criminal investigation into illegal production of amber – three aides to Ukrainian lawmakers, one security guard of a lawmaker, and two representatives of a public organization that deals with the fight against corruption.
According to NABU, the investigators established at least five counts as a result of which the suspects had received over $300,000 in unlawful benefits from a representative of a foreign company. These funds were received by the suspects to ensure the development of bills, unlawful lobbying to influence the State Service of Ukraine for Geodesy, Cartography and Cadastre, the State Forestry Agency, the State Service of Geology and Mineral Resources of Ukraine, local self-government agencies with the aim of unhindered decision-making in favor of the said foreign company.
On July 18, 2017 Kyiv’s Solomiansky District Court chose a pretrial restriction for Rozenblat in the form of a UAH 7 million bail and an obligation to wear an electronic tracking bracelet, not to leave Kyiv and Zhytomyr without notice and to hand over all his foreign passports. The restrictions were in effect until September 12. On July 24, Rozenblat said his family had put up the bail.
