To take away bought disability — what awaits those who bribed the MSEC

During investigations into corruption schemes involving MSEC employees, law enforcement officials have uncovered lists of individuals who paid bribes to avoid mobilization, including those who purchased disability status. Recently, an entire group of prosecutors in the Khmelnytskyi region was exposed for illegally receiving disability status. Following the corruption scandal, the Ministry of Health revoked these statuses for several individuals.

Lawyer Ihor Yasko explained to Novyny.LIVE the procedure for revoking purchased disability statuses and the potential consequences for those who paid bribes.

Cancellation of disability 

"If a person obtained disability status illegally (for example, men attempting to avoid mobilization or leave the country during martial law), the status can be revoked after a relevant investigation, which typically doesn't happen quickly," said the lawyer.

Despite the lawyer’s view that this procedure is slow, there are cases that suggest otherwise. For instance, after Ukraine’s Prosecutor General Andrii Kostin announced the first results of an internal investigation into prosecutors who obtained disability statuses, the Ministry of Health promptly revoked these statuses.

"Such violations are accompanied by the initiation of criminal proceedings. Liability may arise for both those who purchased the certificates and the corrupt MSEC employees," the lawyer added.

According to him, for criminal liability, courts consider both the intent behind the crime and the public danger of such actions, particularly during wartime.

This offense can be classified under several articles:

• Evasion of military service (through document forgery or other deceit under Article 409 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine);
• Offering unlawful benefits to an official (Article 369 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine).

Another article depends on the purpose of obtaining the status. For example, certain actions may fall under Article 332 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (illegal transfer of persons across the state border), if, for instance, a mother arranged a certificate for her son to illegally take him out of Ukraine.

"The specific article depends on the evidence investigators obtain during the process — who the subject is, the objective and subjective aspects of the action, the amount of money involved, whether there was prior conspiracy, how many people were involved in the scheme, and so on," Yasko concluded.

As a reminder, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy called on law enforcement officers to thoroughly investigate corruption schemes in the MSEC.