A member of parliament facilitated an illegal trip abroad for his acquaintances and is now under suspicion.

The State Bureau of Investigations (GBR) has uncovered a scheme for illegal exits from Ukraine organized by a member of parliament. He was smuggling his acquaintances abroad under the guise of "drivers."

This information was reported by RBK-Ukraine citing the press service of the State Bureau of Investigations.

According to sources from RBK-Ukraine, the individual in question is Konstantin Bondarev, a representative of the "Batkivshchyna" party. He entered the Verkhovna Rada under number 14 on the party list. Bondarev is a member of the parliamentary Committee on Transport and Infrastructure and serves as the chairman of the subcommittee on pipeline transport.

Investigators indicate that since July 2022, the member of parliament has been sending letters in his name to the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine requesting permission for men to exit under the pretense of being drivers who were supposedly to accompany him abroad.

Law enforcement has documented 23 instances where, based on the letters from the member of parliament, 18 conscription-age men crossed the border without him, as at that time the MP was either already abroad or had not left the country at all.

At times, for such "trips," the subject needed up to 5 drivers simultaneously. Three of these "drivers" did not return to Ukraine at all.

The MP has been charged with organizing the illegal transportation of individuals across the state border using his official position and committing official forgery (Part 2 of Article 332, Part 1 of Article 366 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine).

He faces a prison sentence of up to seven years. Additionally, a motion for a preventive measure in the form of detention has been submitted to the court.

Law enforcement is conducting searches at the homes of the member of parliament and individuals who have exited the country in this manner.

Photo: The MP organized a scheme for men to exit the country (dbr.gov.ua)

Large-scale exposure of exit schemes

Recall that in January, the police reported that they had dismantled nearly 50 schemes for illegal exits from the country across 22 regions of Ukraine. As part of the investigation, law enforcement conducted over 600 simultaneous searches.

According to investigators, the actions of the perpetrators resulted in hundreds of military conscripts leaving Ukraine illegally.

Furthermore, recently the police conducted a new wave of searches regarding cases of smuggling men abroad. Law enforcement uncovered criminal schemes in 19 regions and carried out 270 searches. Suspicions were issued to the individuals involved.