Corruption is Everywhere, Especially in Ukraine and Russia

Ex-president Poroshenko investigated in Ukraine over embezzlement, allegedly stealing US aid

FILE PHOTO: Ukrainian ex-president, Petro Poroshenko. ©  Sputnik

Ukraine’s National Anti-Corruption Bureau has opened a probe against former president, Petro Poroshenko, who is suspected of abuse of power, embezzlement “on a grand scale” and allegedly stealing US aid funds.

The case against the ex-president was opened following a complaint by a group of Ukrainian MPs and the nation’s High Anti-Corruption Court demanding the authorities investigate embezzlement and misappropriation of the foreign financial aid at the time of Poroshenko’s term in office, a Ukrainian MP Renat Kuzmin said in a Facebook post.

Kuzmin, a member of the Opposition Platform – For Live party, also published the anti-corruption bureau’s documents, confirming that the case against Poroshenko had been launched. The papers state that the former president and some “unknown people” from his administration are suspected of embezzling “on a grand scale,” subsequent legalization of criminally obtained funds, and abuse of power.

The MP himself said that the investigation would look into the misappropriation of funds provided to Ukraine in the form of international aid, including by the administration of the former US President Barack Obama.

And, no doubt, from Canada which has a large Ukrainian population and has been supporting the country for years.

Poroshenko did not react directly to the accusations against him. Instead, his lawyer told the media that the ex-president plans to file as many as 14 lawsuits seeking moral compensation from Ukraine’s National Bureau of Investigations, the anti-corruption bureau and the police. His lawyer also denounced the investigation against his client as political persecution instigated by the administration of the current president, Volodymyr Zelensky.

The news comes just months after Poroshenko’s ally, Kiev mayor and three-time world boxing champion Vitali Klitschko was also accused of embezzlement and even treason by the anti-corruption bureau.

An oligarch candy-maker, who supported the Maidan coup in 2014, Poroshenko came to power in Ukraine just months after the ousting of President Viktor Yanukovich as the nation was quickly plunging into the abyss of a post-coup crisis. During his presidency, he repeatedly played the nationalist card and used Moscow as a boogeyman to raise support while his achievements in the field of economics and the fight against corruption, which still plagued Ukraine years after the Maidan, were far less impressive.

Eventually, he suffered a crushing defeat at the hands of former comedian Zelensky in the runoff at the presidential elections last year.

This story is courtesy of RT, and as you might have guessed is slanted more than a little. For instance, the nation was already in a crisis largely as a consequence of the spectacular corruption of Viktor Yanukovich. Check out the mansion he built himself before fleeing the country.

Corruption is everywhere in the Ukraine, as it is in Russia and so many other countries. Let's hope and pray that President Zelensky can clean it up without being tempted to jump into the cesspool.

Former Moscow Police officers arrested over framing of

Russian journalist Ivan Golunov

Journalist Ivan Golunov meets media in Moscow © Global Look Press / City News Moskva

By Jonny Tickle

Last summer, his detention on bogus drug charges rocked the world of Russian media, leading to an unprecedented show of journalistic unity.

Now, investigators have detained five ex-police officers who are accused of fabricating the case against Ivan Golunov, a reporter for Riga-based online publication Meduza.

The former members of the Moscow Police's drug trafficking control department are currently being interrogated, according to Svetlana Petrenko, the official representative of Russia's Investigative Committee. The detainees were removed from their posts last July in the immediate fallout from the controversial incident. President Vladimir Putin also dismissed two high-ranking Interior Ministry officials over the case.

Golunov was arrested in June 2019 after police officers claimed to have found the drug mephedrone in his backpack. The reporter claimed the narcotics were planted on him. Five days later, following a national outcry, all charges were dropped.

Earlier this month, Golunov's lawyer Sergey Badamshin revealed that police officially recognized him as a "victim," and on January 20 he was summoned for questioning. Badamshin added that Golunov refused to sign a non-disclosure agreement.

Golunov told newspaper RBK that he was satisfied with the decision to detain the suspects and said he is looking forward to the start of the criminal case. He also explained that he learned about the arrests from media coverage and had no additional information about the identities of the police officers.

Today's detentions were flagged in December, when Putin disclosed during a live press conference that five law enforcement officers were under suspicion.

That's odd. Why were they not 'flagged' in July when they were fired?

The five detainees have been named as former Moscow drug cops Denis Konovalov, Akbar Sergaliev, Roman Feofanov, and Maxim Umetbaev, as well as the former head of the department Igor Lyakhovets.