Prosecutors of the Kharkiv Regional Prosecutor's Office have sent an indictment to the court regarding the deputy head of the Main Department of the State Tax Service in the Kharkiv region and the head of the department for the systematic extortion of illegal benefits (Part 3 of Article 368 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine).

According to the investigation, the official organized a scheme to obtain money from representatives of small and medium-sized businesses in the region. Together with colleagues, she demanded money from entrepreneurs for not conducting inspections and for not holding them accountable for allegedly identified violations. The amounts reached up to 5 thousand US dollars. The money was usually handed over in her office, after which it was distributed among the participants of the scheme.

As part of the investigation, the chief state inspector agreed to cooperate with the investigation. The court approved the agreement on his admission of guilt.

In addition, during the documentation of one of the episodes, law enforcement established the involvement of the company's accountant. She handed over a bribe to the tax officials for the expedited closure of a sole proprietorship without imposing fines. She will be prosecuted for providing illegal benefits to a public official holding a responsible position (Part 3 of Article 369 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine).

The case will be heard by the Novobavarsky District Court of Kharkiv.

The pre-trial investigation was conducted by the second investigative and operational departments of the Territorial Administration of the State Bureau of Investigation in Poltava (located in Kharkiv) under the procedural guidance of the Kharkiv Regional Prosecutor's Office.

Note: according to Article 62 of the Constitution of Ukraine, a person is presumed innocent of committing a crime until their guilt is proven in court.