Former Odessa Customs Officer Lost Appeal in False Declaration Case

Oksana Chernyavska, former deputy head of the Odessa customs, also became a participant in the trial related to inaccurate data in her declaration.

This is reported by “Absolution Leaks”.

Chernyavska filed a lawsuit in October 2017 against the Department of Economic Protection in the Odessa region and the National Police, challenging the verification of her declaration information carried out in May and June of the same year. The verification concerned, in particular, the sale of a Mercedes-Benz ML-350 car (2008).

As a result of the verification, it was found that Chernyavska did not notify the National Agency for the Prevention of Corruption (NAPC) promptly of essential changes to her property status. The car was re-registered to a new owner on October 5, 2016, while the notification to the NAPC was received only on June 8, 2017.

The Odessa Regional Prosecutor’s Office has initiated a criminal investigation into the submission of false information in a declaration by Article 366-1 of the Criminal Code.

The court of first instance partially satisfied Chernyavska’s claim, recognizing some actions of law enforcement officers as unlawful, specifically repeated inspections conducted after June 23, 2017.

However, the Department for the Protection of the Economy filed an appeal, arguing that its actions complied with the legislation, specifically Article 172-6 of the Code of Ukraine on Administrative Offenses. They emphasized that the court of first instance did not take into account all the nuances of the claim.

The Administrative Court of Appeal upheld the police’s arguments, overturning the previous instance’s decision. The court noted that the actions of law enforcement officers were lawful and necessary to identify possible violations.

The court noted that the re-examination was the result of shortcomings in the initial conclusion, which did not take into account some details, in particular, the lack of explanations from Chernyavska’s representative and the lack of documents regarding the sale of the car.

The court also emphasized that Chernyavska did not specify which actions of the authorities she considered unlawful, which complicated the process of evaluating her case.

As a result, Chernyavska lost the case, confirming that the police acted within the law.

Additionally, it was revealed that Gennady Taranenko, the head of the economics department of the Nizhyn City Council, was sentenced to 1.5 years of probation for crimes committed during his tenure as head of the local department of the State Fiscal Service.