The Supreme Court has reopened the Alperin case, in which the sister of a top NABU detective is a figure involved

This is reported by with reference to UNN and the data of the Unified State Register of Court Investigations.

As the publication notes, he tried to take his sister Alina Danchenko under his guardianship, but the court refused.

"The Supreme Court, by the panel of judges of the First Judicial Chamber of the Cassation Criminal Court, returned the Alperin case for consideration by the court of first instance. In particular, the judges refused to close the proceedings and the participation of suspects in sessions in a video conference mode. This also applies to the suspect in this case, the sister of the head of NABU detectives Oleksandr Skomarov - Alina Danchenko (maiden name - Skomarova)," the agency’s report said.

Alina Danchenko worked as the director of the Customs Payments Administration Department of the State Fiscal Service and, according to the investigation, helped Alperin in organizing the smuggling of goods.

"During the searches, detectives discovered correspondence between Danchenko and Alperin himself. The official gave instructions to customs officers, specifying which violations should be allowed during the customs clearance of goods and which should not," said UNN.

The NABU started the case against Alperin in 2017, the agency noted. According to the detectives, due to the activities of the criminal organization, the state lost nearly 64 million UAH.

"Skomarov wanted to take Danchenko under custody as a brother, but the court refused him. During an interview for the competition in [the National Agency for the Prevention of Corruption] NAPC, where Skomarov applied, commission member Laura Stefan called it a "conflict of interest": the case is being led by NABU detectives, and the detective himself could have obtained important information for his sister’s defense and directly influenced the investigation," stated the UNN report.

Alperin’s case was closed in 2023 upon the defense’s application for the use of amendments to the Criminal Procedure Code of Ukraine, known as "Lozovyi’s amendments," the agency noted. This decision was appealed by prosecutors of the Special Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office, and the hearing was resumed.

Recall that the head of the NABU detectives unit, Skomarov, is participating in the competition for the position of Director of the Bureau of Economic Security of Ukraine (BES).

In June, media reported that his father holds Russian citizenship and registered an enterprise in the so-called "LPR." According to the law, Skomarov was obliged to inform these facts to the NABU leadership and the competition commission, which selects the future head of the BES; otherwise, the current legislation provides for dismissal.