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A Ukrainian legislator is scheduled to go on trial following accusations of attempting to bribe a government official with Bitcoin valued at $10,000, as reported by anti-corruption authorities on April 16.
The case involves current lawmaker Andriy Odarchenko. In a Telegram announcement from the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU), the country’s anti-corruption body indicated that it had referred the case to the High Anti-Corruption Court (VAKS).
Ukrainian Lawmaker ‘Proposed $50k’ in BTC
Odarchenko serves as a Member of Parliament for the Kharkiv Oblast region and is affiliated with the ruling Servant of the People Party.
In November of the previous year, NABU formally charged him. Subsequently, VAKS mandated that Odarchenko be held for two months.
NABU officials believe that Odarchenko attempted to bribe Mustafa Nayem, the head of the State Reconstruction Agency, in August 2023.
Lawmaker Andriy Odarchenko. (Source: Oleksiy Kucher/YouTube)
Authorities suspect that Odarchenko requested Nayem’s assistance in securing funds for the renovation of Kharkiv State Biotechnology University.
Odarchenko is a former leader of the university and reportedly maintains strong connections with the institution.
He allegedly assured Nayem of an “illegal” Bitcoin payment “equivalent to $50,000,” according to NABU.
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The agency stated that the lawmaker “later provided a portion of this amount” – BTC 0.39 – which was “at that time equivalent to $10,000.”
Ukraine’s ‘First’ Crypto Corruption Case
NABU and the Servant of the People Party highlighted that this case marks the first anti-corruption investigation in the country involving cryptoassets. The agency asserted that Odarchenko remarked to Nayem:
“I love crypto. Haven’t you ever used crypto? It’s great. I have my own [crypto] exchanges. Everywhere – in Lviv, Kharkiv, and Kyiv. Even in Spain.”
Impounding Russian billionaires’ assets didn’t do much for Ukraine, but a tax might, says @LionelRALaurent https://t.co/ReFTaWytwF via @opinion
— Bloomberg (@business) April 17, 2024
The agency further noted that it had been “informed” of “suspicions” regarding the lawmaker on November 21, 2023, and had “completed” its investigation in January 2024.
NABU expressed its “hope that the case will also be reviewed by VAKS in a timely manner.”
Kyiv is in the process of developing crypto regulations inspired by the EU Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA).
In January, Kateryna Rozhkova, the First Deputy Governor of the Ukrainian central bank, stated that cryptoassets “are not money.”
The post Ukrainian Lawmaker to Face Trial Over Alleged Bitcoin Bribes appeared first on Cryptonews.
