On August 18, the High Anti-Corruption Court closed the proceeding concerning possible false declaration of former Minister of Infrastructure Volodymyr Omelian. It is one of two NABU-SAPO investigations concerning the former official.
HACC Head of Communications Olesia Chemerys has confirmed this information.
According to the investigation, in 2015, Omelian allegedly obtained assets in his possession whose cost significantly exceeds his income. The assets include a new 2015 SUV BMW X5 and cash, namely USD 90,000 and EUR 25,000.
At the same time, detectives insisted that the former official filed false information in his e-declarations. In 2015, the total cost of undeclared assets and expenses constituted at least UAH 3.034 million, in 2016 — over UAH 8.024 million.
The former minister was charged on the counts of Article 368-2 (illicit enrichment) and Article 366-1 (declaration of false information) under the Criminal Code. After the Constitutional Court decision, the count of illicit enrichment was closed.
The Anti-Corruption Court only considered the count based on Article 366-1.
“This is a minor crime, punishable by a fine, community service or imprisonment for up to two years. The alleged crime was committed over three years ago. The statute of limitations has expired. The materials were sent to the HACC in autumn 2019. The court thus had only about six months to reach a verdict. In April, the closure of this case was only a matter of time,” explained Kateryna Ryzhenko.
Recall that in spring, the HACC closed similar proceedings against former head of NACP Natalia Korchak and of the State Audit Service Lidia Havrylova.
On January 4, 2017 NABU detectives and SAPO prosecutors started an investigation not only into the false declaration, but also into alleged illicit enrichment of Chief Auditor Lidia Havrylova. She was charged a year later. The amount in question was UAH 10,000,000.
The investigation concerning Head of NACP started in October 2017. The investigation claimed that Korchak’s family member bought a car costing almost UAH 500,000 in 2016. However, it was actually used by Korchak and her husband. This was not stated in the declaration.
Source: hcac.court.gov.ua
