Odesa sends to court case on 83-million-dollar lie in declaration

Employees of the State Bureau of Investigation have completed an investigation into the false declaration of property by the head of one of the departments of the State Migration Service of Ukraine in Odesa region, Andriy Moraru.

Prosecutors have sent the case to court.

According to the investigation, the official, receiving a salary of 28 thousand hryvnias per month, entered false information in his declaration worth more than 83 million hryvnias. These include undeclared real estate, an elite vehicle, and assets registered in the names of close relatives but actually controlled by the official himself.

In particular, the head of the department did not declare

• a residential building in the center of Odesa with a total area of 200.5 square meters with a land plot with an estimated value of more than UAH 7 million, registered in the name of the mother of the declarant's minor children
• a Mercedes-Benz G 400 D 2023 worth UAH 5.6 million, registered in the name of the official's mother;
• other assets registered in his mother's name, but in respect of which he has the decisive right to dispose of - an office building (195.8 sq. m.), a recreation center (apartment of 94.9 sq. m.), shop premises and land plots in Bilhorod-Dnistrovskyi and Zatoka.

In order to artificially increase his assets, the official declared 37 fictitious units of the cryptocurrency Bitcoin worth more than UAH 57.7 million, as well as cash in the amount of EUR 100 thousand and USD 200 thousand.

What happened before

In June 2024, the SBI exposed migration officials who wanted to make money on a foreigner. Andrii Moraru was among the detainees.

After that, the HACC started consideration of the case on the confiscation of the Mercedes-Benz car. The car, worth more than UAH 5 million, belongs to the mother of Odesa Customs official Andrii Moraru, , who does not even have a driver's license.

In March 2025, the Appeals Chamber of the High Anti-Corruption Court upheld the decision to confiscate a Mercedes-Benz G400 D used by Andrii Moraru, head of the migration control department of the State Migration Service in Odesa region.

The official registered the luxury SUV worth UAH 5.65 million in his mother's name in 2023.

However, neither his salary nor his mother's official income allowed for such a purchase. The court recognized that the car was purchased with funds of unclear origin and ordered that it be transferred to state ownership.

Where is he now?

Currently, Andrii Moraru is in custody and is accused of intentionally entering knowingly false information in the declaration.

The sanction of the article provides for a fine of six thousand to eight thousand tax-free minimum incomes, or restraint of liberty for 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.

Кирило Бойко