The NACP should establish the facts of illegal enrichment by one of the heads of the tax service Sokur
Kyiv • UNN
Yevhen Sokur did not list his civilian wife Alina Lebedieva, with whom he has been living since 2016, in his declaration. The NACP is investigating possible illicit enrichment due to her successful flower business and conflict of interest.
Deputy Head of the State Tax Service Yevhen Sokur is at the center of several investigations: failure to declare information about his civilian wife Alina Lebedeva, a possible conflict of interest due to her business, and a criminal proceeding for abuse of power. The NACP should check whether there are signs of illicit enrichment in his actions that may have criminal consequences. This opinion was expressed in an exclusive commentary to UNN by Serhiy Mytkalyk, Deputy Head of the Public Council at the NACP, member of the board of the RISE coalition, Head of the board of the NGO Anti-Corruption Headquarters.
Context
Earlier, during the investigation into the alleged attempted assassination attempt, Yevhen Sokur told law enforcement officers that since 2016 he had been living with a girl named Alina in an apartment at 6-D Lobanovskoho Avenue. Following a deputy appeal from Nina Yuzhanina, a member of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Finance, Taxation and Customs Policy, the NACP launched an investigation into Yevhen Sokur. In response to a request from UNN, the Agency also confirmed that it was monitoring the official's lifestyle. Kateryna Butko, head of the Public Council at the NAPC, noted that the National Agency for the Prevention of Corruption is checking whether Sokur and his partner Alina lived together.
Later, it turned out that Sokur lives at with Alina Lebedieva. According to the Youcontrol system, Alina Lebedieva registered as a sole proprietor on August 3, 2022. The main KVED of activity is retail sale of flowers, plants, seeds, fertilizers, pets and pet food in specialized stores. It is worth noting that Sokur was promoted to a senior position at the tax office less than three months earlier, in May 2022. In a little over a year of work during the full-scale war, Alina Lebedieva was doing so well that on her birthday, November 1, 2023, she announced the opening of a flower boutique in the heart of the capital, in the Leonardo business center.
According to Serhiy Dorotych, head of the #SaveFOP movement, Sokur's stunning success may be due to another very interesting aspect: legalization of funds through her business.
In an exclusive commentary to UNN, Deputy Head of the Public Council at the NACP Serhiy Mytkalyk noted that the failure to include in the declaration information about his cohabitant, with whom Yevhen Sokur lives together and has mutual rights and obligations, is a violation of the law. “If they have been living together for more than 180 days, the NACP should verify this fact and take appropriate measures,” Mytkalyk emphasized.
If the fact of cohabitation is confirmed, he said, the income and assets of the cohabitant are analyzed further. “The more property the partner has, the higher the amount of undeclared property will be. If it is more than one and a half million hryvnias, we can talk about possible criminal liability due to false information in the declaration or even signs of illicit enrichment,” the expert explained.
Scheme of concealment of property
The second possible point Mr. Mytkalyk drew attention to is concealment of property. “Declarants often get divorced through the courts, but continue to live with their de facto wives. The property is registered in the names of cohabitants who are not legally related to the official and therefore are not subject to financial monitoring,” said Mytkalyk.
This, he said, allows officials to set up businesses, buy property and legalize their income without the risk of being exposed. “If the NACP confirms these facts, we can talk about illicit enrichment,” emphasized Mytkalyk.
Conflict of interest
Another aspect is a possible conflict of interest. “In fact, practice rarely proves a conflict of interest, because it is, first of all, an administrative offense, because false declaration or signs of illicit enrichment are actually criminal liability... Again, all the income and property of the partner must be assessed. It is necessary to prove that the official, using his official powers, contributed, for example, to the direct business of the civilian wife to create and increase her wealth,” Mytkalyk emphasized.
The expert added that such situations are often complicated by a lack of direct evidence. However, if a link is established between the official's activities and the increase in the partner's wealth, the possible consequences may even include civil forfeiture.
Recall
A criminal investigation is being conducted against Sokur for an official crime. This case was opened by the State Bureau of Investigation on November 4, 2022, under Part 3 of Article 365 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine, on the fact of abuse of office by Sokur, who signed an order on October 26, 2022, to revoke Ukrtatnafta's license for fuel production. Such actions of the official, according to the investigation, caused serious consequences for the company and the state in the form of the inability to fulfill the mobilization tasks of the Ministry of Defense for the production and supply of petroleum products for the needs of defense and the state's defense capability. The State Bureau of Investigation informed UNNthat this criminal proceeding is still under investigation.
