Ukrainian regulator rocked by high-level bribery scandal
Police arrest senior KRAIL member for accepting $90k bribe in exchange for licence
Police in Ukraine have arrested a high-ranking member of the country’s Commission for the Regulation of Gambling and Lotteries (KRAIL) over blackmail and bribery allegations.
On Friday, officials from the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) confirmed the detention of the unnamed KRAIL employee for taking a $90,000 (£66,000) bribe from an unknown source.
NABU has said the official demanded the funds in exchange for granting a number of permits and licences to operate gambling premises in Ukraine.
The name of the official has not been confirmed. However, NABU said he was the acting chairman of KRAIL when the offence occurred.
This revelation saw Ukrainian media allege the official detained was Yevhen Hetman, although this has not been formally verified by EGR at the time of writing.
NABU detectives, working in concert with the Specialised Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s (SAP) office received information concerning a corruption and bribery network the purpose of which was to grant licences in exchange for cash payments.
In light of this, the two agencies began a number of investigations involving undercover detectives and covert searches, which uncovered documentary evidence of the scheme.
The permits were to allow gambling establishments to be set up in the Chernihiv and Zaporozhye region of Ukraine.
“Investigative actions are underway to expose other members of the organised criminal group,” NABU said.
The arrest is a hammer blow to the fledgling regulator, which was formed in November 2020 and has only issued three online gambling licences to date.
Reacting to the revelations, 4H Agency partner Ilya Machavariani suggested the investigation had the potential to result in a significant “house cleaning” exercise for the Ukrainian authorities.
“This news is certainly not a good sign, especially as it coincides with the one-year anniversary of the adoption of the Ukrainian gambling law,” he explained.
“I hope that over the course of the investigation, the commission is able to clear out the situation [the alleged bribery network] and address the situation in an open and transparent manner,” Machavariani added.