Ukrainian authorities on Wednesday conducted a series of anti-corruption searches across the country. One of the initiatives as part of this series was the unsealing of an alleged scheme by the acting head of the Kyiv tax authority to look the other way on 45 billion Ukrainian hryvnia ($1.2 billion) in unpaid taxes.
The State Bureau of Investigations (SBI) said that it had found hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash, as well as luxury watches and cars, at the residence of the head of the Kyiv tax authority.
The head of the Kyiv tax authority, “along with other members of the commission, made decisions on compliance or non-compliance with the risk criteria of taxpayers without legal grounds, which led to serious consequences,” the SBI said.
“The tax officials ‘do not notice’ these schemes, support their existence, or directly participate in them for systematic payment for their ‘services,’” the SBI said in a statement.
“As part of the criminal investigation into the abuse of power that caused grave consequences, SBI officers are conducting searches at the suspect's residence and workplace. During the investigation, they have already found 158,000 US Dollars, 530,000 Ukrainian hryvnia, 2,200 euros, luxury watches, cars, etc.”
The SBI released photos of the cash and luxury goods it said were found at the tax chief’s residence.
David Arakhamia, the parliamentary majority leader, said that the “entire management of the customs” agency has been dismissed, there have been “searches in the State Tax Service,” and that authorities have served “notices of suspicion to senior officials of the Ministry of Defense.”
The recent findings from the anti-corruption searches come after President Volodymyr Zelensky fired a slew of senior Ukrainian officials amid a growing corruption scandal linked to the procurement of war-time supplies, in the biggest shakeup of his government since Russia’s invasion began.