Regions' SBU employees are being forced to raise 50-150 thousand for Duka's bail - Ukrainska Pravda

In the regions, employees of the Security Service of Ukraine are being forced to hand over money for the bail of General Serhiy Duka, who is suspected of involvement in a criminal organization in the “Carthage” case. Sources from law enforcement told Ukrainska Pravda about this, and recently SBU personnel were urged to urgently pool funds for the general’s bail. Money is being collected among employees of the Main Directorate “D” and the Main Directorate for Counterintelligence Protection of the State’s Interests in the Field of Economic Security of the SBU. According to sources, the amounts vary depending on the employee’s position.

According to Ukrainska Pravda’s sources, operatives are to transfer 50 thousand hryvnias each, while sector chiefs and department heads together with their deputies are to transfer 150 thousand hryvnias each. After transferring the funds, a person must take a screenshot of the receipt and send it to their superior, who compiles a list and reports it to Kyiv.

This collection is already the second sign of such a practice: on 7 November UP reported that calls to contribute to Duka’s bail were circulating among SBU staff. To understand the scale of the amount being attempted to collect, consider:

operatives - 50 thousand hryvnias each

sector chiefs - 150 thousand hryvnias each

department heads and their deputies - 150 thousand hryvnias each

Why was the bail set at exactly 65 million?

On 4 November, NABU and SAP notified five suspects in the alleged criminal organization in the “Carthage” case, including SBU General Serhiy Duka. The investigation believes the suspects organized regular bribe payments to high-ranking officials of law enforcement agencies in exchange for allowing fraudulent call centers and other illegal businesses to operate without hindrance.

On 6 November, the High Anti-Corruption Court set Duka’s preventive measure as detention with the possibility of posting bail in the amount of 65 million hryvnias. That same day journalists were not allowed into the courtroom where the measure was chosen, and a broadcast for them was turned on in another room. Head of the NABU detectives unit Oleksandr Abakumov said that during a search Serhiy Duka threatened detectives with a weapon and smashed equipment with a hammer, while Alpha fighters tried to evacuate him.

Not all defendants in the case were allowed bail by the court. Regarding another suspect, National Police official Volodymyr Tsenov, the court ordered detention with the possibility of bail, and on 6 November that amount — 15 million hryvnias — was posted for him. In contrast, defendant Vitaliy “Boxer” Rybalka was placed in custody without the possibility of bail by court decision.

Earlier, Informator reported that the High Anti-Corruption Court detained the “Boxer” defendant in the “Carthage” case without the right to bail; he is accused of torture and participation in a criminal organization linked to the activities of the Russian drug cartel “Khimprom.” We also reported that in the same case the HACC detained the driver of Deputy Head of the Prosecutor General’s Office Serhiy Kropyva, who is suspected of complicity in laundering funds and surveilling the official’s security.