The State Bureau of Investigation has opened criminal proceedings regarding the possible organization of illegal smuggling of persons across the state border by ex-president of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko during his trip to the Maldives in 2018. This was stated in the press service of the SBI, - UNIAN writes.
The relevant information was posted to the Unified Register of Pretrial Investigations on August 5.
The department noted that the agency is investigating possible actions of Poroshenko and the official bodies of the state customs and border services regarding the organization of illegal transportation of persons across the state border of Ukraine using obviously false documents during the trip to the Maldives in 2018.
"The SBI investigators began a pre-trial investigation of possible facts of organization of the illegal transportation by the former president of Ukraine across the state border of Ukraine. The SBI investigators check the information on organization of the illegal transportation through the state border by the ex-president using deliberately forged documents, as well as entry of deliberately false information into official documents by officials of the state customs and border services with the aim of crossing the border", - the alternate speaker of the SBI Maksym Belousenko said.
According to him, the pre-trial investigation was launched on the grounds of criminal offenses under Part 1 of Art. 366 (forgery by an official), Part 1 of Art. 332 (illegal transfer of persons across the state border of Ukraine) and Part 4 of Art. 358 (use of a deliberately forged document) of the Criminal Code of Ukraine. The pre-trial investigation is ongoing.
As previously reported, journalists of the Schemes project conducted an investigation and found out that Poroshenko spent his Christmas holidays in the Maldives from January 1 to 8, 2018. He flew in a private plane with 7 passengers. The journalists assumed that these individuals did not pass passport control and traveled under other names. According to estimates by the Schemes, the president spent at least $500 thousand on the vacation. The press service of the head of state reported that Poroshenko met the 2018 year at home, spent several days in the Ivano-Frankivsk oblast and visited the Maldives with a private trip. Poroshenko also stated that during his trip to the Maldives, he crossed the border with his passport, appropriate registration of the border guards and paid for the flight and hotel accommodation in his own hand.