Contraband godfather named suspect in crime, could face arrest

Vadym Alperin,
dubbed by the president as a godfather of contraband, was issued a notice of
suspicion on Oct. 28 on abuse of authority in organizing tariffs on imports
that were valued below their market prices, the pravda.com.ua news site
reported. The scheme involving 11 suspects resulted in UAH 77.7 mln in losses,
the National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) said in a statement. Authorities
will request of the High Anti-Corruption Court that Alperin be arrested until
trial, with an alternative of paying bail of UAH 288 mln, the pravda.com.ua
news site said, citing an anonymous source.

Alperin was a
leading entrepreneur in Odesa, Ukraine’s largest port city. In November 2017, a
court arrested Alperin for offering a USD 800,000 bribe to a NABU detective.
His criminal cases were transferred to the Prosecutor General’s Office, where
they were not pursued until the appointment of Prosecutor General Ruslan
Riaboshapka in September.

Zenon Zawada: So far,
so good. For the current anti-corruption cases to be convincing to the public,
full-length trials are needed, leading to a judge’s verdict.