Unconventional relations: Department of Organized
Crime employee buys a house from a drug addict
Having become friends with the probationer, the police officer resolved his
housing problem
Viktoria DOSKOCH
✉doskoch@ukr.net
This is the first time “Pohlyad” encountered a situation when a law enforcement officer became
friends with a drug addict on probation in order to conveniently get a house from him. Usually
Chernivtsi region citizens share stories with our newspaper about police impertinentness and forcing
people to fake testimony. It looks like this situation was a first not just for our newspaper, but for the
Chernivtsi regional prosecutor’s office, which was conducting an investigation into the facts. In the
experience of the investigators, this was the first case when a policeman, who should be bringing
criminals to justice, instead purchased an expensive house from one of them for almost nothing.
Therefore, “Pohlyad” decided to figure out how it was possible and what responsibility one carries
for such a “friendship.”
●
Viktoriya Tun’ showed the grave of her cousin, who was secretly buried near his parents.
Photo by the author
“I was looking for my cousin, but instead found his grave”
(From the story of Vasyl Tun’s cousin)
“In March 2007, I started looking for my first cousin, Vasyl Tun’. The thing is that I looked in the
village Nyzhni Stanivtsi, Kitsmanskiy region, but my cousin had a nice house in Chernivtsi. Since
his arrival from the U.S. in 2002, where he had lived permanently since 1986, I regularly visited
him: I would bring him produce from the village, I came to buy things, and I would talk to neighbors
and inquire about how he was behaving. In short, I was trying to take care of him since he returned
from the U.S. a drug addict. But one time I had to go to Kyiv for a couple of months to take care of a
sick relative and when I returned I could not find Vasyl. He did not answer my phone calls; the
neighbors said they hadn’t seen him for a while. Very often I left notes in the doorway of his house,
asking him to contact me. I called the hospitals to make sure he was not there. This search lasted for
a couple of months. And then my brother called and said that near the grave of his father-in-law, he
saw a fresh grave. The cross on the grave had a name tag with the birthdate and date of death of
Vasyl Tun’. When I heard that, I fainted. So I learned about Vasyl’s death in September 2008.”
“My brother went to his father-in-law’s grave to recognize the anniversary of his death. When he,
together with his family, was at the cemetery, his daughter-in-law noticed that there was a fresh
burial between the graves of the parents and the cross had a tag with Tun’s initials and the date of
death of September 16, 2007. Having learned about it, I called to the U.S. right away in order to tell
Vasyl’s sister about his death. A couple of days after the news, she had a stroke. She is still very
sick, which very much complicates my own investigation into the case. Since I did not get a power
of attorney from her to investigate the case of her brother’s death and take care of the house.
Because very accidentally we found out that a couple of months before his mysterious death, he sold
the house. And it was not just the house, but a couple dozen acres of land, with the house and an
unfinished two-story building, plus a garage and a huge garden – all started by Vasyl’s father.
> Not
only law enforcement officers, but very important people in the city
and religious groups tried to get the house of Vasyl Tun’
“I about the sale of the house first learned from the neighbors. They were also the ones who first
told me that the new owner was a police officer. In order for my cousin to have somewhere to live,
he sort of bought another house. At least this is what he told the neighbors. However, to each
neighbor he named a completely different address for the new house. I have not seen that police
officer, but I heard about him a lot from Vasyl.
“Once I came for a visit and I saw syringes in his room. I was very surprised because Vasyl was off
the needle for a while and said that he met a religious group and started a new life. So I started
reproaching him, “Why are you back on drugs again? Why do you need problems with the police?”
And he responded, “Our policemen protect us, don’t worry.” And he kept talking about some guy
named Sashko. I did not like that attitude of his, because I very well remembered how very recently
Vasyl was complaining that police officers planted drugs on him and blamed him for drug dealing.
However, the arrest lasted for a couple of days. And after that, my cousin got on the needle again –
and worse – he did nothing to get off of it. So later when I learned that the new owner of the house
was that same policeman who regularly visited Vasyl, I started suspecting him. I think he was the
one that helped Vasyl get drugs so that my cousin sold the house for cheap. Overall, the whole story
with the mysterious death of my cousin still has a lot of unanswered questions that neither police,
where I went for help, nor the regional prosecutor could answer. I think that somebody helped my
brother die and the house apparently was sold illegally because the owner of the house was his
sister.
“I regularly have a dream where Vasyl’s mother asks me to find the real cause
of his death.”
“When his sister found out about Vasyl’s death, she told me to be careful and even me advised not
to investigate the reasons for his death since it could be dangerous to my life. Honestly, maybe I
would have stopped dealing with this problem if not for an anonymous call and weird dreams that
left me restless. Once I got a call on my cell phone from an unknown man. He said that in reality
Vasyl was ‘helped’ to die (the day before his death, he was beaten up). Moreover, among the
potential killers – there was also a woman. This happened when I actively was trying to find out
about the new owner of the house. And then I got weird dreams that Vasyl’s mother is sitting right
next to me, holding my hand, and asks me to find out the real cause of Vasyl’s death. I promise her
that I will do everything possible, but I said that I would do it after harvest. A couple of weeks pass
and I see her again in my dreams. This time she reproached me that I promised to find the killers,
but didn’t do anything. So what do I do now?” worries Miss Viktoriya.
Drug addict Vasyl Tun’ was a successful businessman in the 1990s
Chernivtsi law enforcement officers know Vasyl Tun’, born in 1957, as an experienced addict that
had problems with both Ukrainian and American justice. Even though Vasyl became a drug addict
only a few years before his, as relatives say, mysterious death.
In the distant 1980s, he was well-known and respected in Chernivtsi since he was a professional
programmer, which at that time was a very profitable and promising profession. Then the man,
together with his wife, moved permanently to the U.S. Later, his sister also joined them and moved.
Abroad V. Tun’ opened his own business making clothes and made pretty good money. He divorced
his wife. At the end of 1996, Vasyl started having financial problems. And later he learned that his
former wife bankrupted him. Moreover, he learned about it accidentally when he had to pay the
bills.
Viktoriya, Vasyl Tun’s cousin, said that after receiving that news Vasyl disappeared for a couple
months. When he returned, he had no documents or clean clothes with him. He became a drug
addict. He lived in the U.S. for a couple more years, was on probation and then we deported to
Ukraine. His wife, meanwhile, got involved with suspicious Americans. In 2002, Vasyl returned to
Ukraine to live his last years here and to mysteriously die.
Modest scheme for acquiring a house
Having heard the story of Viktoriya Tun’, “Pohlyad” decided to find out about the policeman who
the deceased Vasyl “so warmly”talked about and now Viktoriya mentioned him. It turned out that
the policeman, born in 1975, has worked with the police for a few years. While working for the
Department of Internal Affairs, he was a district policeman and in the Criminal Investigations
Department, then he moved to the Organized Crime Department, and from there to the State Guard
Service Department at the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine.
According to the information “Pohlyad” managed to get, it was not the first attempt by the
policeman to get housing from drug addicts who had no relatives in Chernivtsi. All his previous
attempts failed. Then he found out about drug addict Vasyl Tun’, whose relatives were abroad and
who had an intention to sell the house. The policeman became very interested in him. He even made
another drug addict (nickname Zeleniy) live with V.Tun’ so that the former could watch him and tell
him about any suspicious behavior, including attempts to sell the house to anybody else. By the way,
Zeleniy was convicted, but thanks to “somebody’s” help, did not serve time. He was arrested only
when Viktoriya Tun’ officially wrote a claim to the Internal Safety Service Department, Chief
Department of Fighting Organized Crime at the Ministry of Internal Affairs asking to investigate the
legality of buying the house from her cousin. It is interesting that not only law enforcement, but also
very influential people, and even a religious sect tried to get possession of Vasyl Tun’s house.
Reference
According to Article 11 of the law of Ukraine “On police,” policemen have the right to arrest and
keep in buildings specially for this purpose people suspected of crime, the accused, those who hide
from investigation or court, the convicted, or those who avoid serving criminal punishment during
the terms and order presumed by law; and people who are under arrest when the court is making
decisions.
The evaluator said Tun’s house was worth 190 ths dollars
In order to find out the real value of the house in which V.Tun’ lived, “Pohlyad” talked to local
realtors. According to their evaluation, as of the beginning of 2009, the market price for such a
house was 190-200 ths dollars. But considering the crisis, these days it would be hard to sell it for
such money. A more realistic price would be 150-170 ths dollars. Besides the house, there is a
garage in the yard as well as a garden and half-built two-story building. According to the buyingselling agreement notarized on March 29, 2007, the policeman bought the house for 162 989
hryvnyas.
The body of the deceased was taken from the morgue by the policeman
According to official information of the regional bureau of forensic-medical analysis workers, Tun’s
body and the document on his death was taken away by the policeman. When asked why to this
man, but not to relatives the body was given, the morgue workers said that the policeman had his
passport; moreover, such is possible if the deceased had no family. The cause of death of Tun’ V. S.
– left side lower lobe suppuration – bacterial pneumonia with abscess and complication of lung and
heart insufficiency. The body was given away for burial at the central cemetery.
+
> Sisters of deceased V. Tun’ did not understand how the Shevchenkivskiy regional
court could call him the sole owner of the house since the real heir to the house was
Vasyl’s sister, who now lives in the U.S.
Tun’s sisters openly claim that they do not believe the official reasons for the cause of death of their
brother and claim that he was taken to a psychiatric hospital completely healthy and the next day he
suddenly died. Of course, all of those are just suspicions. But all suspicions can be once and forever
cleared if exumation of the body is executed.
At the regional prosecutor’s office they said there is no reason to not trust the forensic experts since
false evidence carries criminal responsibility.
Questions without direct answers
Having suspected the new owner of the house, Viktoriya Tun’ addressed the regional prosecutor,
asking them to investigate the mysterious conditions of her cousin’s death and to get approval for
the body’s exhumation. But in return she heard that the prosecutor had no reason for it since, in
order to “dig up the body, there has to be a crime involved.” In the case of selling the house to the
policeman and the death of the drug addict Tun’, the prosecutor sees no crime at all. However, they
did not persuade Viktoriya about the absence of a crime either. The woman is left with questions,
answers to which she was not able to find. To some questions, “Pohlyad” could not get direct
answers either:
1. Why did the policeman secretly (not informing neighbors and not looking for relatives) bury the
body of the drug addict Tun’? He did it nowhere else but right next to his parents and relatives.
2. Does the policeman have the right to help a drug addict on probation become the sole owner of
the house? It is thanks to the active help of the policeman, the Shevchenkivskiy regional court of
Chernivtsi announced Vasyl Tun’ to be the only owner of the house (#2-3307/06 from December
28, 2006).
3. On what grounds did the Shevchenkivskiy court give Tun’ sole ownership of the house?
4. Is it true that V. Tun’, being the sole owner of the house, basically became homeless since the
new owner did not pay him money?
5. Is it true that right before his death, V. Tun’ was demanding his money for the house?
6. Why did Zeleniy, who was supposed to be watching Tun’ and was convicted for three years for
selling drugs not serve his term?
7. Tun’s death after selling the house – coincidence or something else?
8. Are there reasons to believe that in the grave it is really Tun’s body, since he was buried without
witnesses?
Information for thought
The situation that V. Tun’s relatives got is more than just interesting – it is very educational. On one
hand, they have a lot of reasons to suspect the policeman. On the other hand, the investigators of two
instutitions could not confirm any of their suspicions. From a legal standpoint, the documents on the
house were processed without any violations of current legislation. The only person who could have
explained all of the uncertainties was Vasyl Tun’, but now he is gone. So in order to recognize the
buying-selling agreement on the house as invalid, it is necessary to prove that at the time of signing
the document, Tun’ was under the influence of drugs and did not understand what he was doing. But
now that is impossible.
Also from a judicial point of view, the involvement of the policeman in Tun’s death is unproven. If
only the policeman acted as LAW enforcement, then they would have forced him to get treatment (it
is within their authority). Maybe with such actions they would have prolonged Vasyl’s life. Instead
the law enforcement, knowing for sure that Tun’ continued to use drugs, did not charge him with
administrative or criminal responsibility.
Official responses to the newsroom’s request
> “We conducted a thorough investigation”
At the Internal Safety Service Department, Chief Department of Fighting Organized Crime at
the Ministry of Internal Affairs, they told “Pohlyad” that they conducted an investigation after
receiving a claim from Viktoriya Tun’. The department’s staff collected documents on the illegal
actions of the policeman and sent them to the regional prosecutor, asking him to decide on whether
to open a criminal case against it or not.
> “Policemen started an unconventional relationship with the drug addict”
Having conducted the investigation, based on the materials, from the department of internal safety,
the regional prosecutor made a decision to deny opening a criminal case. Employee of the regional
prosecutor Fedir Durych, who conducted the prosecutor’s investigation stated that “in this
situation there was only one violation – the policeman that was meant to fight crime got involved
with a person who had problems with the law and bought a house from him. However, this could be
more related to the moral aspect to the story, but not a crime. All of the rest, specifically the
purchase of the house by the policeman was conducted within the law. So we have no grounds to
doubt the natural, but not abusive death of V. Tun’ and question the decision of the Shevchenkivskiy
Court, according to which Vasyl became the sole owner of the house. All of the documents on
buying-selling were processed within the legislative norms. So having studied the materials
thoroughly, we decided to deny opening a criminal case based on Point 2, Article 6 of the Criminal
Code. At the same time, the regional prosecutor sent a letter to the head of the department of the
Ministry of Internal Affairs of the region, informing him about the moral aspect of their employer’s
activities. How to punish the policeman is up to the Bukovyna Police.
● Part of the former
property of deceased Vasyl Tun’. Photo by the author
P.S. When “Pohlyad” started work on our story about the organized crime department employee
buying the house from a drug addict, it turned out that the policeman did not work at that department
anymore. As of 2009, he worked at the department of the state guard at the Ministry of Internal
Affairs of Ukraine. In July of this year he resigned of his own will.
“Pohlyad” will return to this publication if additional information becomes available.