Truba “righthand man” Shcherbyna arrested for taking alleged bribe

Ihor Shcherbyna, a
close ally to Roman Truba, the head of the State Bureau of Investigations
(DBR), was arrested on Dec. 5 by the High Anti-Corruption Court of Ukraine in
criminal charges of fraud and taking a bribe of USD 150K, along with another
entrepreneur, in closing a criminal case against a builder. At the time of the
sting operation, Shcherbyna served as head of the Investigative Administration
of the Prosecutor General’s Office of Ukraine. The complaint was filed by a
detective with the National Anti-Corruption Court of Ukraine, and the judge set
bail at UAH 2.13 mln. Meanwhile, Truba has denied any involvement and said his
bureau is free from corruption.

Another notice of
suspicion in a criminal case is being prepared against former President
Poroshenko, Truba told a Dec. 5 press conference, as reported by the
pravda.com.ua news site. The criminal case will involve the illegal appointment
of Serhiy Semochko, Truba said, without offering details. Semochko was
appointed the first deputy head of the Foreign Intelligence Service of Ukraine
in July 2018, which is alleged to be against the law because he has eight
relatives with Russian citizenship. The DBR has already named Poroshenko a suspect in the
criminal cases of abuse of authority and
attempting state overthrow.

Zenon Zawada: Dubbing Shcherbyna as Truba’s
“rigthhand man,” President Zelensky had used his criminal case as an example to justify
legislation
that would reset the DBR and dismiss Truba in the process (despite him having
no apparent relation to these criminal cases.) And yet Truba is proceeding with
more criminal cases against former President Poroshenko, unfazed by his
upcoming dismissal. That’s unusual considering a typical move for a law
enforcement official would be to curry favor with a political opponent, knowing
that you’re on the way out (as former Prosecutor General Yuriy Lutsenko had been doing).

So this move could indicate that Truba remains on solid ground with the
Zelensky team, which is merely planning to move him to another post. Or it’s
possible Truba hasn’t given up on being involved in some capacity in law
enforcement after he’s dismissed.