SBI to publish first results of internal probe following Midas Operation relevations

The State Bureau of Investigation (SBI) will soon publish the first results of the verification of information that appeared in the media after the National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) and the Special Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office (SAPO) went public with preliminary results of their investigation into large scale embezzlement, dubbed Midas Operation," the agency's communications adviser Tetyana Sapyan reported.

"The SBI already has the first results of the verification of information that appeared in the media after the special operation of the NABU and SAPO. They will be published and reported to the Temporary Investigative Commission of the Verkhovna Rada on Economic Security," the SBI website said in a statement on Friday.

"There is not much time left and we will hear the specific results of the work. We are interested in everything being verified and made public as transparently and professionally as possible," the SBI press service quotes Sapyan as saying.

According to her, the Bureau has zero tolerance for any abuses by employees, regardless of status or merit. At the same time, according to her, it is fundamentally important for the Bureau to clarify not rumors or emotional assessments, but legally confirmed facts.

Immediately after the publication of the tapes of the so-called "Midas Operation," the Main Investigation Department of the State Bureau of Investigation entered into the ERDR information on the signs of possible commission of crimes provided for in Part 3 of Article 368 (obtaining unlawful benefit in a large amount or by prior conspiracy by a group of persons, or related to extortion) and Part 3 of Article 365 (exceeding power or official authority by a law enforcement officer, which caused grave consequences) of the Criminal Code of Ukraine.

"Currently, a large complex of work has been carried out, including a request to the NABU for permission to interrogate their suspects, who on the published tapes discussed possible unlawful actions of State Bureau employees," the Bureau said.

"A lot of internal work is being done to clarify all the facts and circumstances, and we have already managed to establish a lot, and in the near future we will inform the TSK and society about this. And these will not be general phrases, but specific facts," Sapyan emphasized.