Fraud with cars and cryptocurrency worth billions: what the deputy head of Odesa regional council is hiding

Journalists discovered that Oleksandr Urbanskyi, deputy chairman of the Odesa regional council, did not include in his declaration an Audi RS Q8, which has officially belonged to him since last spring and is worth about UAH 5 million. The politician is also trying to sell another car, which he bought for a symbolic amount of 18 thousand hryvnias, and now put up for sale for more than 4 million hryvnias.

This was reported by Nikcenter.

The fines for speeding indicate that Urbanskyi is actively using the undeclared Audi, in particular for trips to the capital. One of the resolutions states that his car was moving across the Kyiv bridge at a speed of more than 100 km/h, while the speed limit was 40 km/h.

In addition, Urbanskyi declared the purchase of a 2021 Audi SQ8 last year for 18 thousand hryvnias. Journalists found an advertisement for the sale of this car and identified it by its unique VIN code.

According to the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the Audi SQ8 is still owned by Urbanskyi, and its market value is $96,500. Previously, this car probably belonged to his ex-wife Natalia Urbanska. Journalists found 13 fines in her name for this car, issued during 2023, before the car was re-registered to Urbanskyi.

Urbanskyi's previous car, an Audi SQ7, was also valued too cheaply in his declaration - 500 thousand hryvnias. He sold it 4 months later, allegedly for 1 million hryvnias. However, the journalists' investigation showed that the real sale price could have been $115,000 (4.8 million hryvnias), as evidenced by the data from the Auto.RIA classifieds archive and information from the Interior Ministry's register.

In addition, the publication revealed possible fraudulent activities of Urbanskyi with cryptocurrency. In 2020, he declared 5328 bitcoins worth approximately $154.5 million. However, in his 2021 declaration, he reported that he no longer owned these assets, as he had donated them as a gift.

Meanwhile, Natalia, the wife of the Deputy Head of the Odesa Regional Council, became the owner of two apartments in Greece in December 2022 with an area of 203.5 and 150 square meters, respectively.

Ірина Глухова