Automatically translated version. May contain inaccuracies compared to the original.
“Was there a call center or not?”: Huz demands dismissal of Slipchuk and Rohovenko over scandal in Lutsk
A scandal erupted in Volyn around a fraudulent call center uncovered in Lutsk. After the regional prosecutor’s office head Maksym Rohovenko stated that such an office “did not work for a single day, not for a single second,” in police public statements changes were found that raised even more questions.
According to the “Vykryvach” (The Exposer), discussions are now under way about possible resignations of officials associated with the alleged “covering up” of the exposed call center and other similar groups. At the same time, claims about “covering up” are statements and investigations, not established facts.
15 On September, Member of Parliament Ihor Huz from the parliamentary rostrum stated that in the center of Lutsk law enforcement uncovered a call center approximately 50 meters from the building of the Volyn regional police and about 150 meters from the regional prosecutor’s office. He urged the dismissal of the head of the Volyn police Oleh Slipchuk and the head of the regional prosecutor Maksym Rohovenko, and also urged NABU to check possible ties of officials with the operation of call centers.
And now the most interesting part begins.
Initially, the National Police reported about the liquidation of a fraudulent call center where about 60 operators could have worked. According to the initial version by law enforcement, the office could bring in about 500 thousand dollars per month. During searches a large number of phones, computer equipment, and about 30 thousand dollars in cash were seized.
And then the wording changed.
In the edited police statement, “liquidated a fraudulent call center” turned into “prevented the operation of a fraudulent call center.” Operators were no longer calling potential victims, but were only “planning to call.” The mention of a potential monthly income of 500 thousand dollars also disappeared. At the same time, the URL of the old publication remained unchanged and still contains wording about the liquidated call center with an income of about 500 thousand dollars.
And a simple question arises: did the call center operate or was its work only being prepared?
The head of the Volyn regional prosecutor’s office Maksym Rohovenko stated that on the territory of the region during his tenure no such call center operated.
“Not a single day, not a single second, a minute—on the territory of Volyn no call center operated,” Rohovenko said. According to him, law enforcement acted in advance and did not let the fraudulent office to start operating.
But even in the new version of the police report, there remained formulations that look completely different.
Law enforcement reports identify persons “involved in the work” of the call center and are looking for victims “from its activity.”
Thus we have two versions of one story: the prosecutor’s office says the call center did not work “for any second,” while the police report still mentions those involved in its operation and potential victims.
And this is not just journalistic speculation, but a question of why the official version of events changed and who exactly decided to rewrite the initial report.
Another moment that requires answers is why a decently staffed office with a large amount of equipment and claimed potential turnover by law enforcement could operate just tens of meters from the regional police department and about 150 meters from the prosecutor’s office. This is precisely what Ihor Huz pointed out in the Verkhovna Rada.
Huz also linked this story with materials of the “Carthage” case and urged NABU to check possible links between the exposed office, the heads of Volyn law enforcement and other defendants.
Meanwhile, the main puzzle remains very simple: if the call center did not work “for a single second,” why did the first police version talk about its liquidation, operators, potential monthly income of 500 thousand dollars, and victims?
And who will finally explain which version is official—the one initially released by the police, or the one later voiced after public questions to the leadership of Volyn law enforcement?
Document: PDF proof of the original version of the news item "«Кол-центр був чи ні?»: Гузь вимагає звільнення Сліпчука та Роговенка через скандал у Луцьку". It records the publication content at the moment of the first scan, the preservation date and the source: ANTIKOR.