The Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office has filed a lawsuit with the High Anti-Corruption Court for the civil confiscation of assets that, according to the investigation, were acquired without legal sources of income. This concerns the property of the former head of the Main Department of the State Tax Service in Chernihiv region, her mother and son.
The total amount of assets that the prosecutor's office wants to recover as state revenue is over 8.4 million hryvnias.
As found out by the National Agency for the Prevention of Corruption, the State Bureau of Investigation, and the SAPO, between 2021 and 2023, the official's family purchased:
-
Volvo car,
-
apartment in a residential complex in Kiev,
-
four parking spaces in the same residential complex.
However, an analysis of official declarations and sources of income showed that there was no evidence of the legal origin of the funds for these purchases. Therefore, prosecutors filed a lawsuit with the court to declare this property unfounded and subject to civil confiscation.
In order to ensure the consideration of the case, the High Anti-Corruption Court has already seized the specified assets.
Civil confiscation is used in Ukraine as part of anti-corruption reform — it is a legal mechanism that allows the state to seize property acquired without proven sources of income, even without a conviction, if the court finds the assets unfounded.
Previously, the SAPO has repeatedly applied this rule to officials of tax, customs, and law enforcement agencies. In this case, the property is registered in the name of relatives, but the law allows for the seizure of assets if it is proven that they were actually acquired with the official's funds or through related persons.
The case is currently being considered by the Supreme Court of Justice. If the lawsuit is upheld, it will become another precedent in the fight against illicit enrichment through family ties in state authorities.
