Journalists-investigators uncovered a corruption scheme with the participation of the state’s top management, the general prosecutor’s office and corrupt lawyers.
According to sociological studies, the level of trust in law enforcement agencies of Ukraine and, in principle, in its leadership did not rise above 35% during all years of independence.
What is it connected with? Of course, it is possible to talk about total bribery of the lower and middle echelons, the exceeding of official powers by law enforcement officers, etc.
But there must be a root cause… Which, in our opinion, has deep Soviet roots and like a cancerous tumor is consuming young law enforcement officers, gradually turning them into clones of those persons who are carriers of “corrupt” ideology. And in the case of Ukraine, also connected by strong “nepotism” and “earthly” relations.
In this article, we will try to prove to you, using the example of one family, the fact that the root cause of total corruption is, first of all, the ideological perception of this phenomenon and the corresponding model of behavior at the level of higher government offices and, as a result, a similar attitude at lower levels .
So, let’s meet: at first glance, Mykola Ivanovych Toporkov, a respectable person, a native of the Sumy region, a lawyer, a former employee of the prosecutor’s office, an entrepreneur, a former candidate for People’s Deputies of Ukraine, a lawyer.
Apparently, nothing unusual, but only standard biographical links of a person who did not sit idle and sought a better fate for his own family.
But, researching the biography of Mykola Ivanovich, we drew attention to the fact that fate treated his life path quite leniently and arranged in such a way as to give him good preferences.
In particular, starting from birth – Mykola Ivanovich was born in the village of Baba, Nedryhailiv District, Sumy Oblast, and is actually a countryman of one of the former Presidents of Ukraine, who in turn was born in the village of Khoruzhivka, Nedryhailiv District, Sumy Oblast.
During his education at Kharkiv University, Mykola Ivanovich was also lucky and he met the former Deputy Prosecutor General of Ukraine – Mykola Golomsha.
Yes, the same person who diligently investigated the case of the poisoning of Viktor Yushchenko, a candidate for the President of Ukraine at the time, and to this day claims that there was a fact of intentional poisoning, but he did not prove it, as, in principle, he did not prove the version about intentional the murder of Vyacheslav Chornovol, although it is quite actively publicized.
But let’s return to the story of Mr. Toporkov.
After receiving specialized education, he worked for some time in the prosecutor’s office, and after his release he retrained as a lawyer, which is confirmed by the corresponding certificate No. 1163, issued by the Kharkiv Regional KDKA on March 12, 2004, that is, just during the Orange Revolution.
However, Mykola Ivanovych is an active person, and in parallel with the practice of law, he begins to engage in entrepreneurial activities, namely: the cultivation of agricultural crops. For this, he founded such enterprises as “Revival of Nedryhailivshchyna”, “Zorya – 2000”, “Ferum” and others… . Which, in turn, after working for a certain time – went bankrupt.
Then, Mr. Toporkov decides to fully devote himself to his personal life and law practice.
By the way, it should be noted that in Mykola Ivanovich’s personal life, everything is also in order – his wife Iryna Yehorivna and son Maxim.
And, as for his legal practice, it is quite interesting and can serve as an example of how “not to” work. But then the lawyer will be forced to live, as they say: “on one salary.” In the case of Toporkov, everything is different. Strong ties with the former Deputy Prosecutor General of Ukraine and his compatriots with the former President of Ukraine allow him to take part in the most financially attractive cases, receiving numerous fees, while, of course, Mykola Ivanovich’s decency prompts him to be with “dear friends” share. However, age also makes itself felt – you need to think about your son’s future.
It is for this purpose that Mr. Toporkov makes every effort to ensure that his son Maksym receives a high-quality legal education. And after Maksym graduates from law school, Mykola Ivanovich introduces him to his old friend Golomsha and, so to speak, “raises” him to the circle of “dear friends”.
Of course, such support immediately allows young Toporkov to start a rapid career in the Holosiivska District Prosecutor’s Office of Kyiv.
In this case, it should be noted that intuition and the foundations of “nepotism” laid down from childhood did not fail Mykola Ivanovich – the bet on his son was successful. In particular, such a conclusion can be drawn even based on the data published in his official declarations.
So, if in 2014 Toporkov Jr. declared only an apartment, albeit not small, but as much as 160 meters, then already in 2015 the NAZK drew attention to the fact that his declared assets began to exceed the amount of income by 10 times. There is only one conclusion – the father raised his son within the framework of the very ideology with which we started this article, and he should be “proud” of it.
However, everything is equal – the father remains a kind of “locomotive” of the family.
And Mykola Ivanovych does it perfectly. Thus, in particular, over several years of “honest” legal activity, among the assets of the Toporkov family, land plots in Kozyna, Obukhiv district, Kyiv region with an area of 3,000 square meters appear. and 808 square meters, respectively. A residential building in the same Kozyna with an area of 598 meters and a Mercedes-Benz s350L executive car, 2013.
If we take into account only the value of the specified property, it is safe to say that Toporkov’s “legitimate” lawyering activities, with the help of his son, a prosecutor, provided the family with wealth in excess of ten million US dollars.
So, the secret of successful legal practice in Ukraine is the presence of such components – a countryman – the President, a friend – the Deputy Prosecutor General, the son of a prosecutor.
However, ambitions take over and Toporkov Sr. begins to dream of new horizons. Political.
In this case, fate is again kind to him and helps him to get on the electoral list of VO “Batkivshchyna” in the elections to the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine in 2019.
However, “Soviet upbringing” gives the upper hand and in the questionnaire of a candidate for deputies, Mykola Ivanovich modestly mentions the millions of fortunes in the elite Koncha-Zaspa, and only notes the place of residence in his parents’ house in the village of Baba, Nedrigailiv district, Sumy region. So to speak – to be “closer to the people”. However, the people are already a little smarter and our hero does not enter the Verkhovna Rada.
Yes, no problem. Politics is politics, and advocacy is feeding.
And, probably taking into account the effect of the presumption of innocence, he begins to work on a rather interesting legal case – lobbying the interests of “dear friends” in commercial relations with the Odesa port plant and appointing the “necessary” person to the position of chairman of “Cherkasioblenergo”. Yes, the term lobbying and the corresponding methods can be legal only in a civilized society.
In our case, everything is simpler: – “On June 16, 2020, an acquaintance named Yushchenko appealed to the chairman of the FSMU in his office to help resolve the dispute regarding the extension of the contract between the Odesa Port Plant and the Energy Equivalent company, as well as the appointment of Cherkasioblenergo to the post of chairman a certain person At the same time, Yushchenko said that lawyer Toporkov will contact the Fund on this matter.”
However, it did not happen as expected – and with the help of NABU, a “respected” lawyer, lawyer, millionaire, godfather – a bribe in the amount of 200,000 dollars was trivially detained on the first tranche. The total amount of the bribe was supposed to be as much as 800,000 US dollars. This is the end of a “successful” lawyer’s practice… Our colleagues described this situation in more detail: https://sudreporter.org/sud-obrav-zapobizhnyj-advokatu-u-spravi-pro-800-tysyach-dlya-golovy-fdmu/ and https://graty.me/news/antikorrupczionnyj-sud-naznachil-zalog-v-16-mln-griven-advokatu-podozrevaemogo-v-predlozhenii-vzyatki-v-800-tysyach-glave-fonda-gosimushhestva/and https://sudreporter.org/advokatu-zvynuvachenomu-v-pidkupi-golovy-fdmu-zachytaly-obvynuvalnyj-akt/ .
Of course, we were interested in whether “Dear Friends” were interrogated as part of this criminal proceeding, but we are waiting for an answer from the competent authorities.
In conclusion, we hope that we have managed to prove to you the root causes of corruption in Ukraine and the correspondingly low level of trust in the authorities. And this is just an example of one family. And how many more similar…
By the way, after the aforementioned fiasco of a “successful” lawyer’s career, the younger Toporkov (Maxim Mykolayovych) is dismissed from the prosecutor’s office and immediately requalifies as a lawyer. So to speak – a successful family tradition, built on the principles laid down by “Soviet philosophy”, nepotism and compatriotism, and in essence – banal corruption under the cover of government offices. But we will tell you about the “successful” cases of Maksym Mykolayovych a little later.
To be continued …. And very interesting..
