SBU arrests fake medical commission leaders profiting from draft dodgers in Odesa

The State Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) has dismantled another mobilization evasion scheme in southern Ukraine: in the Odesa region, the head and two members of the local expert team for assessing the daily functioning of a person (formerly the MSEC - Medical and Social Expert Commission) were detained, who were trading in fictitious medical certificates.

"For amounts of $3,000 or more, they issued unfounded conclusions for draft evaders about the alleged presence of serious diseases with the subsequent establishment of a disability group," the SBU reported in a telegram channel on Thursday.

The Ukrainian special service notes that the organizer of the transaction involved members of the expert team - the presiding cardiologist and a medical registrar - to produce fake medical documents.

"It is documented how they received "orders" from at least fifty clients who hoped to avoid conscription or be discharged from service," the agency reported.

SBU officers detained all three defendants "red-handed" when they were being handed another bribe for fake medical reports.

During the searches, draft records, personal files of conscripts, and smartphones with evidence of illegal activity were found on the detainees.

Currently, investigators of the Security Service have informed them of suspicion under two articles of the Criminal Code of Ukraine: Part 3 of Article 368 (acceptance of an offer, promise, or receipt of an illegal benefit by an official); Part 1 of Article 114-1 (obstruction of the lawful activities of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and other military formations).

The perpetrators are in custody.

The complex measures were carried out by SBU officers in the Odesa region under the procedural leadership of the Bilhorod-Dniester Specialized Prosecutor's Office in the Field of Defense of the Southern Region.