The leader of a parliamentary faction in the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine is accused of bribing members of parliament to vote on specific bills, the press service of the National Anti-Corruption Bureau reported, quoted by UNIAN.
“NABU and the Special Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office exposed the leader of a parliamentary faction in the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine for offering illegal benefits to several members of parliament belonging to factions not led by this person in exchange for voting for or against specific bills“, the statement said.
The preliminary qualification of the crime is under Part 4 of Article 369 of The Criminal Code of Ukraine. Such crimes are punishable by imprisonment for a term of five to ten years, with or without confiscation of property.
NABU did not name specific names, but promised to publish details later.
Meanwhile, “Ukrainska Pravda“, citing its sources, reports that the National Anti-Corruption Bureau and the Special Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office are conducting searches in the office of the “Batkivshchyna“ party. The office in question is located on “Turovska“ Street in Kiev.
Meanwhile, “Schemes“, citing a source from the anti-corruption agencies, reports that the suspect is Yulia Tymoshenko, the head of the “Batkivshchyna“ faction.
“NABU and SAP have exposed Yulia Tymoshenko, who leads the faction “Batkivshchyna“, confirmed a source of “Schemes“ from the anti-corruption agencies. Additional details are not available at the moment. The deputy has not yet commented on this, and her faction has not made any statements“, the journalists said.
This information was also confirmed by deputy Oleksiy Goncharenko (European Solidarity):
“It was Yulia Tymoshenko. She was negotiating with several deputies about switching or unofficially joining the “Batkivshchyna“ faction for money. One of the deputies recorded the materials and handed them over to the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU),“ he wrote in Telegram.