The National Bureau of Investigation has opened a criminal investigation to check on what grounds Vitaliy Shabunin received business trips to the NACP from the military unit where he allegedly served. At the same time, he received UAH 43 thousand per month, which includes "combat" allowances.
This is stated in the letter of the NABU published by journalist Volodymyr Boyko. The NABU opened a case on abuse of office by former NACP head Oleksandr Novikov and his former deputy Artem Sytnyk.
Officials repeatedly wrote letters to the military unit asking them to send Shabunin to the National Agency.
"It is clear that soldier Shabunin did not serve in the NACP (this is impossible in principle), but lived at home, drank in Kyiv taverns and did business. And these letters were needed to pay the evader Shabunin his allowance and additional remuneration under martial law," Boyko writes .
According to Law and Business, based on these letters, Shabunin did not appear in the military unit for six months. And the payments to him caused the army material damage that is 100 times higher than the tax-free minimum income of citizens.
Shabunin's declaration for 2022 indicates that he received a total of UAH 584 thousand in cash and additional remuneration. In total, his income from business activities amounted to more than UAH 1.5 million in 2022 and almost UAH 2.26 million in 2023.
At the same time, Shabunin stated in his blog that Novikov's appointment as head of the NACP cost him $11,000. Because he as a member of the commission for selection of the head of the National Agency could not get a tax amnesty to pay taxes for the restoration of his destroyed house.
From this, Boyko concludes that Novikov, by sending business trip letters to the NACP, could have been trying to reimburse Shabunin for the lost funds.
Earlier, the Command of the Terrorist Defense Forces appealed to the SBI to bring to criminal responsibility the commander of the military unit where Shabunin "served" for providing him with illegal business trips and payments.
The State Bureau of Investigation is investigating a number of criminal cases against Shabunin, including mobilization evasion, forgery of NAPC documents, illegal use of humanitarian aid, and misappropriation of a Nissan Pathfinder jeep that volunteers had donated to the Armed Forces.