A specialist at Ukraine’s central bank was arrested on October 29 for allegedly soliciting $50,000 from a businessman while promising to secure a license to operate a currency exchange.
The suspect was arrested outside the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) building in central Kyiv while accepting $40,000 in cash, the Prosecutor-General’s Office said in a Facebook post.
An additional $10,000 was supposed to be paid once a lifetime license was issued.
His alleged crime has been prequalified as fraud since the suspect’s competency at the NBU doesn’t allow him to issue currency exchange licenses.
On its Facebook timeline, the NBU said that it hasn’t received more detailed information from prosecutors and that the arrested specialist works in a different department in a nonmanagerial capacity.
Furthermore, “NBU decisions on the issuance of licenses are made by a decision-making collegium based on the findings of several departments, which makes it impossible for one person to influence the decision-making process,” the bank said.
The person seeking the license currently holds one that expires on December 21, but was rejected for a renewal in July by the NBU, the Prosecutor-General’s Office told Ukrayinska Pravda.
After the rejection, the man allegedly sought the help of the NBU employee.
