The National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) has launched a criminal investigation into possible illegal enrichment of Deputy Prosecutor General Dmytro Verbytskyi after journalists from the investigative project "Schemes" made public information about his luxurious estates. According to the press service of the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office, the proceedings were initiated on May 13, and NABU detectives are currently conducting a pre-trial investigation.
At the same time, the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine invited Prosecutor General Andrii Kostin for an explanation regarding the property status of his deputy. Deputies expressed interest in how Dmytro Verbytskyi was able to purchase expensive property without having the appropriate income.
"To date, there are no details, but there are grounds for further checks. Therefore, it is important to hear an explanation from Kostin and to find out how Verbytskyi's actions are controlled in his office," said one of the People's Deputies, Oleksiy Goncharenko.
According to information, the Verkhovna Rada decided to summon the Prosecutor General to a meeting on May 18 to obtain the necessary explanations.
In the first investigation of the "Schemes" journalistic project, it was noted that Dmytro Verbytskyi settled in a townhouse in the cottage town "Konik" in Kyiv. His nephew, acting on behalf of an Odesa businessman, bought this property at a price that is six times lower than the market value, which is an obvious suspicion of corruption schemes.
In the second investigation, "Scheme" highlighted the story of Kristina Ilnytska, who is Verbytskyi's girlfriend. In 2024, she became the owner of a new Porsche car and a 3-story cottage also in the town of Konik. The total value of these assets is at least 52 million hryvnias, while her income is slightly more than 360 thousand hryvnias per year. In a comment for journalists, Verbytsky claims that he did not finance Ilnytska's purchases and that their relationship is not of a family nature.
However, there is an interesting aspect: according to the data of the "Safe City" traffic photo recording system, during April and May of this year, Dmytro Verbytsky himself drove a Porsche together with Ilnytska - sometimes as a driver, sometimes as a passenger. They moved around the city in this car, including the day of the purchase of Ilnytska's cottage. The photos from the system show that the Deputy Prosecutor General also used this car to move around Kyiv.
People's deputy of Ukraine of the 8th convocation, Robert Horvat, has been charged with illegally receiving compensation for staying in a hotel room in the capital. In total, he was paid 914 thousand hryvnias for this period.
In addition, the National Anti-corruption Bureau and the Specialized Anti-corruption Prosecutor's Office reported Horvat's suspicion of illegally taking over 320 hectares of land of a state-owned enterprise, which caused losses in the amount of 123 million hryvnias for Ukraine.
On June 17, the European Union established a commission to combat corruption and prevent fraudulent use of Western aid provided to Kyiv. This initiative concerns, in particular, the €50 billion aid package foreseen until 2027.
