Vadim Alperin

Vadim Alperin is the "king of Odesa smuggling", as local media call him. Alperin was credited with "patronage" over the Odesa Customs, and his fortune was estimated at a billion dollars.

Alperin was first talked about publicly in 2008. At that time, Somali pirates seized the Ukrainian ship "Faina", which was carrying weapons. The owner of the ship was none other than Alperin.

A high-profile scandal broke out in 2017: Alperin was accused of trying to give an 800 thousand dollar bribe to a NABU employee (either to lift the arrest on the accounts of certain enterprises, or to "lose" cases). In November 2017, the court arrested Alperin for 2 months with the possibility of posting bail of 21 million hryvnias. However, the appeals court reduced the amount to 141 thousand hryvnias, and Alperin was released.

Finally, in November 2019, NABU detained 10 people in the Alperin case and violations of customs legislation. However, they failed to detain Alperin himself – he disappeared. In November 2019, President Zelenskyy appealed to Ukrainians to help catch Alperin. The next day, Alperin himself appeared at the SAPO and was detained by law enforcement officers.