Following a report from NABU: The Kharkiv police closed the case involving the DRS chairman Kucher’s crypto millions
6 August 08:58
EXCLUSIVE
The Main Directorate of the National Police in Kharkiv Oblast confirmed that, after receiving materials from the National Agency for the Prevention of Corruption, it opened a criminal investigation into the possible declaration of false information by Oleksiy Kucher, head of the State Regulatory Service. However, as early as May 2023, the investigator closed the case “due to the absence of the elements of a criminal offense.” This is stated in the police’s response to an information request
According to the Main Directorate of the National Police in Kharkiv Oblast, on September 3, 2021, the Investigative Department received a substantiated conclusion from the NACP regarding the identification of signs of a corruption-related orcorruption-related offense regarding Oleksiy Kucher’s inclusion of knowingly false information in his 2020 annual declaration.
Based on this opinion, criminal case No. 120212200000001261 was registered on the same day under Part 2 of Article 366-2 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (declaration of false information).
However, according to the police, on May 26, 2023, the investigator issued a ruling to close the criminal case pursuant to paragraph 2 of Part 1 of Article 284 of the Criminal Procedure Code of Ukraine— due to the absence of the elements of a criminal offense in the act.
The response also noted that, as of now, the order to close the criminal proceedings in accordance with the procedure established by law has not been revoked.
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Background
Earlier, the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine, in response to a request from the editorial office, reported that it had received materials from the National Agency for Corruption Prevention (NAZK) regarding the declaration of the head of the State Regulatory Service, but had not investigated them on its own, but had forwarded the materials regarding the inaccurate declaration to the Main Directorate of the National Police in Kharkiv Oblast.
The NACP conducted two full audits of Oleksiy Kucher’s declarations.
Based on the results of the audit of the 2019 declaration, the agency identified signs of an administrative offense, after which it drew up a report under Part 4 of Article 172-6 of the Code of Administrative Offenses and forwarded it to the court.
In contrast, the audit of the 2020 declaration concluded that there were indications of a criminal offense. The NACP stated that the official declared Bitcoin worth over 13 million hryvnias (at the time of the audit) but was unable to provide a public cryptocurrency wallet address to confirm ownership of the assets.
In its conclusion, the agency noted that Kucher provided false information regarding his ownership of cryptocurrency, thereby “committing a criminal offense under Part 2 of Article 366-2 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine.”
SEE ALSO: The NACP Found Violations in Kucher’s Declarations Twice
In addition, the NACP reported that, according to tax authorities, the total official income of Kucher and his family members for 2001–2020 amounted to only 880,700 UAH.
Upon completion of the audit, the agency sent a substantiated conclusion to the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) and issued a directive to the Cabinet of Ministers demanding that an official investigation be conducted and that the head of the State Regulatory Service be held disciplinarily accountable.
However, as previously reported by the Cabinet of Ministers in response to a request
At the same time, according to his latest declaration, Oleksiy Kucher continues to report significant crypto assets. According to the Incrypted portal, their value is approximately $5.15 million.
As a reminder, the National Agency for the Prevention of Corruption conducts full audits of only 0.15% of all submitted declarations each year. What do these statistics actually reveal, and why can one end up on the “corrupt officials” registry even for simply filing a declaration late? Find out in an interview on the YouTube channel
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