NABU detectives began criminal proceedings into illegal enrichment on the part of the Deputy Head of the Office of the President of Ukraine Andrey Smirnov.
Now, as stated in NABU’s explanations, the investigation continues, but the Bureau has not yet disclosed details about it.
Also Art. 222 of the Code of Criminal Procedure of Ukraine determines that information from a pre-trial investigation may be disclosed only with the written permission of the investigator or prosecutor and to the extent that they consider possible. Taking into account the above, as well as the fact that in the relevant criminal proceedings you are not a person who, according to Art. 221 of the Code of Criminal Procedure of Ukraine has the right to familiarize itself with the materials of the pre-trial investigation; providing the requested information is not possible,” says the NABU response published on the “Access to Truth” portal.
According to the data, NABU is conducting investigative actions within the framework of criminal proceedings No. 42023000000000436 under Art. 3685 of the Criminal Code (“Illegal enrichment”), which was launched based on the facts exposed by journalists of the acquisition of vehicles and real estate at reduced prices in the name of Andrei Smirnov’s brother.
“These investigative actions relate to access to bank safe deposit boxes, obtaining information about real estate objects and the movement of funds in bank accounts over the past 10 years, which were registered both in the name of Andrei Smirnov himself and his relatives Igor Nikolaevich Smirnov, Margarita Valerievna Smirnova, Olga Vladimirovna Smirnova, Nikolai Vladimirovich Smirnov, Kirill Andreevich Smirnov, Vladislav Aleksandrovich Smirnov, and other dummies. In addition, law enforcement agencies are studying information about Smirnov’s trips to Moscow, which took place in the period from 2014 to 2019 after the occupation of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and part of the Donbass of the Russian Federation,” the publication points out.
Let us recall that in 2022, the brother of the deputy head of the Office of the President Andrei Smirnov, Igor, bought an apartment and a plot of land in the Carpathians at a reduced price. This is stated in a journalistic investigation by Ukrayinska Pravda; the purchase cost Igor Smirnov $250 thousand.
According to the investigation, the cost of a parking space in Kyiv is approximately $20 thousand, and Smirnov purchased it for 60 thousand UAH.
At the same time, the brother of the head of the OP bought an elite apartment with an area of 100 sq. m in the Avalon-37 residential complex for 1 million 162 thousand 807 UAH, while the market value of such an apartment fluctuates within 6 million UAH.
Another purchase of Smirnov is 10 acres of land in the village of Polyana. The market value of 1 hectare here reaches $3 thousand, but the brother of the head of the OP bought 10 hectares for 10 thousand 600 UAH.
As for cars and a motorcycle, their total cost is $125 thousand.
Andrei and Igor Smirnov, in a comment to the publication, could not explain where the money to buy all this property came from. According to Andrei Smirnov, his brother borrowed money, and it was he who borrowed part of the money. Regarding the apartment, Igor Smirnov claims that he planned to buy real estate in Kyiv, but because of the war he changed his mind and bought it in Lvov.
He explained the origin of the money by business - resale of cars, which gives him additional income. At the same time, Andrei Smirnov said that his brother does not officially work anywhere.
