Photo from UNIAN

The SBU's Anti-Corruption Department has been for more than a month monitoring Ukrainian Deputy Minister for Temporarily Occupied Territories and Internally Displaced Persons Yuriy Hrymchak and his assistant Ihor Ovdienko received the first part of the bribe.

According to the SBU, Hrymchak and Ovdienko earlier got the first part of the bribe in the amount of over US$600,000. They converted cash via a number of affiliated currency exchange offices, Ukrainian TV Channel 24 reports.

The SBU had been monitored said transactions, immediately withdrawing money exchanged to ensure that material evidence is preserved.

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The sting operation lasted more than a month in conditions of high secrecy.

Read alsoDpty Minister for occupied territories Hrymchak, his assistant detained on bribery charges

When Hrymchak agreed on the time and place of the meeting to receive the next part of the bribe worth US$480,000 and came to the location together with his aide, Mr. Ovdienko, detectives of the National Anti-corruption Bureau of Ukraine, together with representatives of the Special Investigations Directorate of the Prosecutor General's Office and the SBU Security Service of Ukraine, apprehended him "red-handed".

As UNIAN reported earlier, Ukrainian Deputy Minister for Temporarily Occupied Territories and Internally Displaced Persons Yuriy Hrymchak and his aide were detained on bribery charges on Wednesday, August 14,

NABU said the two officials demanded US$1.1 million from a representative of a legal entity, allegedly for "exercising influence on decision-makers authorized to perform state functions."