Candidate for Odesa Court of Appeal enriched with a new apartment and a car

The family of a judicial candidate in Odesa became dramatically wealthy over the course of a year: they got a new apartment, a premium car, and significant savings. At the same time, their official income remained relatively modest.

This was reported by Anti-Corruption Dimension.

Lawyer Veronika Chursova twice filed declarations as a candidate for the position of a judge of the Odesa Court of Appeal, but she did not seem to be very careful about her finances. In her 2023 declaration, she listed savings in dollars, a third apartment, and a car listed at a clearly undervalued price.

In her declaration for 2022, filed at the end of 2023, the judicial candidate stated that she and her husband owned two houses, four land plots, and two apartments. Two cars were also declared: A 2017 CHEVROLET BOLT EV, allegedly purchased for 42 thousand hryvnias, and an old LAND ROVER RANGE ROVER.

The total annual income of the family amounted to 256,762 hryvnias, which means that the three of them (a retired husband, the candidate and their daughter) had a little more than 21 thousand hryvnias per month. At the same time, the family had savings: Veronika had 10 thousand hryvnias, and her husband had 40 thousand.

In the declaration for 2023, filed in the spring of 2024, the situation changed: the family got a third apartment worth UAH 759,470, and the husband declared a 2017 JAGUAR F-PACE car, allegedly purchased for UAH 60,000. For comparison, on the Auto.Ria website, such cars now cost from 17 thousand dollars. Even if the car had been damaged or brought from the United States on a special order, its price would clearly exceed 60 thousand hryvnias.

At the same time, the family's savings increased to $10,000 for Veronika and $20,000 for her husband, despite an annual income of less than half a million hryvnias.

Chursova cannot be prosecuted for knowingly providing false information in her declaration , as she filed it only as a candidate for office, not as an official. However, the appearance of an apartment, a car, and significant savings on a low income could be of interest to the tax authorities.

Recently, the High Council of Justice upheld the decision of the First Disciplinary Chamber to bring to disciplinary responsibility judge of the Prymorskyi District Court of Odesa Ilya Lonskyi. He is accused of taking a bribe, a crime punishable by 4 to 8 years in prison with confiscation of property.

Анна Бальчінос