Head of cyber police department in Odesa region fails to explain where his wife got $293,000 in cash

The National Agency for the Prevention of Corruption found discrepancies in the amount of USD 293 thousand kept by the police officer's wife in 2023 during the audit of the declaration of the head of the service department of the Department for Combating Cybercrime in Odesa region.

According to the NACP, the law enforcement officer himself explained that his wife had accumulated these funds before her marriage to him, saving from her official income as gifts for the holidays and as an inheritance from her mother.

However, when the NACP started checking, it turned out that the official income of the police officer's wife in 2020-2023 did not exceed UAH 500.8 thousand, and the official income of his mother for 24 years was UAH 3.5 thousand.

Moreover, in 2011, the court ordered the police officer's wife's mother to pay $830,000 in loan arrears. The court even seized the woman's property, but since the search for her property yielded no results, the case was closed.

At the same time, the NACP emphasized that no signs of illicit enrichment or unjustified assets were found during the inspection, but the official's actions have signs of a criminal offense under Part 2 of Article 366-2 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (Declaration of false information).

Such an offense is punishable by a fine of six thousand to eight thousand tax-free minimum incomes, or community service for a term of one hundred fifty to two hundred forty hours, or restraint of liberty for a term of up to two years, or imprisonment for the same term, with disqualification to hold certain positions or engage in certain activities for up to three years.

Earlier, Oleksandr Rozumenko, a police officer of the Special Purpose Battalion of the Main Directorate of the National Police in Odesa Oblast, indicated in his 2024 declaration that he had purchased a 2021 BMW 530D for 48 thousand hryvnias. When journalists called the police officer to find out how he managed to buy a car at a price much lower than the average market price, he denied owning a car.

Кирило Бойко