Oblast SFS ignores court ruling to return property

Subject of Complaint: Poltava Oblast SFS Investigative Department
Complaint in Brief: A manufacturing company complained to the BOC that the Investigative Department of Financial Investigations at the Poltava Oblast State Fiscal Service had failed to enforce the ruling of an investigative judge in the Zhovtneviy District Court in the City of Poltava that an SFS investigator was to return property that he had temporarily seized from the Complainant.
Action taken: In response to its appeal, the BOC received a letter from the Poltava Oblast SFS stating that the Complainant’s temporarily seized property could not be returned to the established owner despite the fact that the Ruling clearly stated that the Complainant was the owner. After analyzing the circumstances of the case, the BOC recommended that the Poltava Oblast SFS and the SFS’s Investigative Department of Financial Investigations in Poltava Oblast take immediate steps to return the Complainant’s property. The Council drew the attention of the supervisor of the Main Investigative Administration of SFS Financial Investigations in Ukraine to the fact that its officials at the oblast level were not fulfilling their duties as required and recommended a service review of similar instances when court rulings were not carried out.
Result achieved: As a result of the BOC intervention, the Complainant received back property that had been confiscated earlier. Moreover, a criminal investigation was launched against the Poltava Oblast SFS Investigative Administration of Financial Investigations for failing to comply with a court ruling.