Corruption at Ukrzaliznytsia: Supreme Court invalidates gift agreements used to avoid possible asset forfeiture
The National Anti-Corruption Bureau has proven in the Supreme Court the fictitious nature of gift agreements concluded by the wife of a defendant in a corruption case. This decision will allow the confiscation of real estate in case of his conviction.
In July 2016, six persons, Ukrzaliznytsia (Ukrainian Railways) officials and representatives of commercial structures, became suspects in the Ukrzaliznychpostach (an Ukrzaliznytsia subsidiary) funds embezzlement case.
The defendant, a controller of a group of companies, and his spouse left the country in the face of looming prosecution. In the fall of 2016, his wife gifted their daughter 10 land plots of over 8 hectares in Kyiv region, as well as 8 apartments in the capital.
On Oct. 26, 2016, the controller of a group of companies was notified of suspicion in absentia.
The above property was seized to secure its future confiscation.
In 2016, NABU filed a lawsuit to invalidate the gift agreements. This happened before the decision of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine to deprive the National Bureau of the right to file lawsuits to invalidate agreements. The position of the Supreme Court in the context of the decision of the CCU to deprive the National Bureau of the right to seek the invalidation of agreements shows the legitimacy of the NABU's actions and the validity of court decisions in such cases, despite the CCU's decision.
In total, NABU and SAPO have established the roles of 10 participants in this case. In the spring of 2018, the hearings started.