Oblast SFS office launches groundless criminal suit

Subject of Complaint: Kherson Oblast State Fiscal Service
Complaint in Brief: A manufacturer based in Kherson Oblast turned to the BOC because oblast tax officials were pressuring them. The local tax office had carried out a number of unjustified inspections and launched a criminal case against the Complainant company’s management based on fictive circumstances. The Complainant also said they had been unable to get any information from the Oblast SFS to find out the details of the lawsuit.
Action taken: After a detailed review of the case, BOC experts concluded that officials at the Kherson Oblast SFS Investigation Unit had launched the case in order to get around a moratorium on tax inspections of commercial entities. The BOC also determined that the criminal case had been submitted to the Kherson Oblast Prosecutor’s Office for investigation through the office of a county prosecutor. The BOC recommended that law enforcement agencies and SFS offices run a proper internal review of the situation.
Result achieved: BOC specialists brought the unjustified criminal suit to the attention of the Prosecutor’s office and it was closed within two days. Thanks to the BOC’s intervention, the SFS’s internal security unit undertook a service review and the guilty individuals faced disciplinary action.