The Prosecutor General of Ukraine, Andrí Kostin, submitted his resignation this Monday after learning that dozens of Ukrainian prosecutors paid bribes to obtain false certificates of disability to collect aid.
“I thank the President of Ukraine and the Verkhovna Rada (Parliament) of Ukraine for their trust. But I think it is correct to announce my resignation from the position of prosecutor general,” Kostin said in a statement published by the Prosecutor’s Office shortly after the head of state, Volodymyr Zelensky, held a national security council dedicated to the scandal.
The Ukrainian Prosecutor’s Office had previously opened an internal investigation against 50 of its prosecutors in the Khmelnitsky region (west) who had fraudulently acquired disability certificates from the official commission in charge of issuing them.
These cases are part of an alleged major corruption scheme within these commissions aimed at issuing false certificates to avoid forced recruitment into the Army in exchange for money.
The alleged massive frauds among prosecutors came to light after the arrest earlier this month of the head of the body in charge of issuing these certificates in Khmelnytsky, Tetiana Krupa, on accusations of illegal enrichment.
During the searches of the official and her son, who worked in the region’s pension fund, according to the Ukrainian authorities, six million dollars in cash in different currencies and a list of false names and diagnoses were found so that their beneficiaries are not called up.
As announced this Tuesday by the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU), throughout 2024 this body has identified and canceled a total of 4,106 false certificates.
A total of 64 commission officials in charge of issuing them have been investigated and nine of them convicted.
The latest of these investigated is the head of the agency in charge of certificates in the southern region of Mikoláyiv, who was arrested this week with $450,000 in cash, a collection of jewelry and a Russian passport in his possession.
In his speech to the nation this Monday, Zelensky condemned the alleged corrupt behavior of officials of these commissions and prosecutors and referred to this type of phenomenon as “a real internal enemy.”
After meeting his national Security Council this Tuesday, Zelensky called for firm decisions to end these practices.
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