The National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) has said that Ukrainian Infrastructure Minister Volodymyr Omelyan is suspected of illegal enrichment and declaration of false information.
"On September 13, 2018, detectives of the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine, under the procedural control of prosecutors of the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office of Ukraine, notified the minister of infrastructure of Ukraine of the suspicion of committing criminal offenses stipulated in Part 3, Article 368-2 (illegal enrichment) and Article 366-1 (declaration of inaccurate information) of the Criminal Code of Ukraine," the NABU's press service reported.
According to the investigation, Omelyan, who has been in the civil service since 2000, received UAH 2.17 million in official income from January 1, 2000 to April 26, 2018, while his expenditures from 2008 to April 26, 2015 amounted to at least UAH 3.45 million.
NABU detectives established that in 2015, serving as deputy minister of infrastructure, Omelyan took possession of the assets, "the legitimacy of grounds for obtaining which was not supported by evidence and the value of which significantly exceeded his legal revenues." "The issue concerns a new 2015 SUV BMW X5 and cash in the amount of $90,000 and EUR 25,000. The total value of such assets at that time amounted to UAH 4,230,500," reads the statement.
In addition, according to the NABU, the investigation established that the infrastructure minister had included false information in his income declarations. Thus, in his declaration for 2015, the cost of the assets owned or used, as well as expenditures, which were not declared by the minister, was at least UAH 3.034 million, and in 2016 it exceeded UAH 8.024 million.
"In his declaration for both years, the official deliberately did not include information about the BMW X5 SUB, which he actually owns and which was in his possession and use. The expenses for renting a house, in which the minister and his family actually resided, were not reflected in his e-declaration for 2015. A year later, the minister did not declare the permanent use in 2016 of another country house and a land plot," the NABU said.
In addition, according to the investigation, the minister provided false information about the cost of a 2007 Volvo S80, which he purchased in 2016.
The issue of choosing a measure of restraint for the suspect is currently being decided.
NABU detectives have investigated the above facts since May 2017, the press service added.
Omelyan, in turn, wrote on his Facebook page that NABU detectives had served him with a notice of suspicion of "illegal enrichment" ten years ago," use or acquisition" of a car for his brother and "failure to declare residence in a house for two weeks in 2016."