On November 27, Ukraine’s High Anti-Corruption Court found an operative of the DCIB SBU guilty of extortion and receiving $60,000 in cryptocurrency for the return of equipment to illegal miners.
According to case materials, in July 2022, the SBU officer demanded a bribe of $60,000 from an entrepreneur in exchange for assistance in returning ASIC miners seized during an investigation into electricity theft in eastern Ukraine. He also promised not to hinder further cryptocurrency mining.
The entrepreneur reported the “offer” to the NABU.
The court sentenced the SBU officer to 10 years in prison with confiscation of property, including cryptocurrencies totaling over $58,000. He was also banned from holding positions in law enforcement for three years and stripped of his colonel rank.
The verdict can be appealed within 30 days.
Earlier, ForkLog reported that Ukraine’s HACC sentenced Member of Parliament Andriy Odarchenko in absentia to eight years in prison with confiscation of property for attempting to bribe with bitcoins.