The territorial department of the State Bureau of Investigation (SBI) has opened criminal cases against Lviv customs officer Andriy Basarab. He is suspected of illegal enrichment and declaring false information. As part of the investigation, the court has arrested a large hotel complex Saltzbork, located in the Lviv region, co-owned by the suspect's wife.
As it became known from the case materials and decisions published in the court registry, the State Bureau of Investigation initiated criminal cases under Part 1 of Art. 366-2 and Art. 368-5 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine back in May 2024. Law enforcement officers believe that the chief inspector of Lviv Customs Andriy Basarab entered false data into the declaration for 2023, and also acquired significant unfounded assets that exceed legal income. As indicated in the case materials, the customs officer involved close relatives and a trusted person in the scheme.
In particular, the court decisions indicate that the customs officer's parents are the owners of 25 land plots, several real estate objects (shops, office premises, car service, cafe-bar), three residential buildings (164.6 m2, 141.2 m2, 234.3 m2) and a Toyota Land Cruiser 120 car (2008 onwards). The parents of the customs officer's wife have two land plots, an apartment (40.4 m2), a shop-bar (231.4 m2), a non-residential premises (134 m2), two houses (87.8 m2, 259.8 m2) and cars: Volkswagen Passat (2020 onwards), Škoda Octavia (2018 onwards). About 30 more land plots and various real estate objects are owned by the customs officer's wife and proxy.
It is unknown whether the real estate objects indicated by law enforcement officers were illegally acquired, as the investigation is ongoing. In October 2024, the court gave investigators access to documents, including data on the sources of income (from 1991 to 2023) of the customs officer, his relatives, and several other individuals.
In January 2025, the Lychakiv District Court of Lviv imposed an arrest (prohibition of alienation) on the Saltzbork hotel complex, located in the village of Stara Sil near Stary Sambir in the Lviv region. It belongs to the wife of a customs officer and his proxy. The hotel complex's website indicates that the territory has more than 20 cottages, a hotel, a lake, gazebos, a swimming pool, a spa, billiards, bowling, a cafe and other entertainment.
Law enforcement officers established that after the opening of criminal cases, during October-November 2024, 19 land plots and real estate objects located on them and included in the hotel complex were re-registered to the company "Eco-Sambir". According to the data of the business search system YouControl, the owner of the company is Lyubov Basarab, the wife of a customs officer.
"This indicates that he and his wife, knowing for certain that if he is found guilty of committing a corruption crime, the property obtained by criminal means is subject to special confiscation, which became the basis for re-registering the above-mentioned property to Eco-Sambir LLC," the court ruling states.
The property owners and their lawyers filed objections to the seizure with the court. In particular, they argued that Lyubov Basarab is engaged in entrepreneurial activity and her income is legal, and that the indicated plots were reflected in the declaration.
Indeed, the declaration of customs officer Andriy Basarab on the NACP website lists a number of real estate properties in the village of Stara Sil, owned by his wife Lyubov Basarab. The declared properties are identical in area to those specified in the court ruling.
The investigating judge granted the prosecutor's request and imposed an arrest on the Saltzbork hotel complex by prohibiting the disposition (alienation). The arrested property belongs to LLC "Eco-Sambir", the wife of a customs officer, and a person whom law enforcement officials consider to be the customs officer's trusted person. This ruling can still be appealed.
