Over $1 million in cash: civil servant from environmental inspection agency caught illegally enriching herself

Over $1 million in cash: civil servant from environmental inspection agency caught illegally enriching herself dbr.gov.ua

Maria Semenova

Undeclared currency equivalent to over UAH 46 million was found at the official's home

The head of one of the departments of the State Environmental Inspection of the Dnipro region illegally enriched herself by tens of millions of hryvnias. She was exposed by employees of the State Bureau of Investigation in cooperation with the National Police. The official faces up to 10 years in prison.

According to the State Bureau of Investigations, undeclared cash was found during searches. They were conducted as part of an investigation into possible illegal actions by employees of the Dnipro State Environmental Inspection.

At the suspect's home, $880,000 and more than €200,000 were found and seized.

According to the Office of the Prosecutor General, the civil servant's questionable assets include an apartment of over 100 square meters located in an elite residential complex, as well as a premium BMW 520i car. To avoid suspicion about the origin of the property, it was registered to a relative.

dbr.gov.ua

Photo: State Bureau of Investigation

The official has been detained. As a preventive measure, she has been remanded in custody with the possibility of bail set at UAH 30 million. The case under criminal article 365-5 on illegal enrichment is being handled by the Office of the Prosecutor General.

Related
Weekly roundup of environmental crimes: deforestation, water and air pollution, and land disputes
Weekly roundup of environmental crimes: deforestation, water and air pollution, and land disputes

The "stars" of the week are foresters from the Odesa region who used intimidation to force forest workers to illegally cut down and sell trees

Widespread violations of the environmental permit: environmental inspectors inspected the Negrebivsky quarry
Widespread violations of the environmental permit: environmental inspectors inspected the Negrebivsky quarry

Residents complained about the logging of healthy forests and the loss of drinking water in the community

An environmental tax without environmental benefits: how billions quietly "disappear" into government budgets
An environmental tax without environmental benefits: how billions quietly "disappear" into government budgets

Funds are often spent on strange purchases, projects with no environmental benefits, and the creation of corruption schemes

Illegal profits from waste, poaching, and deforestation: a roundup of environmental crimes
Illegal profits from waste, poaching, and deforestation: a roundup of environmental crimes

In Bukovina, in particular, a large-scale scheme involving the export of unaccounted-for timber was uncovered following 26 searches