Ukraine’s anti-graft agencies complete probe into ex-MP for unlawful rent compensation
former Ukrainian MP Valeriy Patskan (Photo:Valeriy Patskan/Facebook)
Ukrainian anti-corruption investigators have completed a pretrial investigation against former Ukrainian MP Valeriy Patskan, who has been charged with illegally receiving compensation for housing expenses.
The National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) and the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (SAPO) carried out the investigation, the SAPO reported on the Telegram messenger on Nov. 8.
The suspect has been provided with materials for his defense, SAPO said.
According to the law enforcers, from September 2017 to March 2018, the then-MP received compensation for rent payments for an apartment in the capital, despite owning his own apartment in Kyiv. During the investigation, it was also established that the lawmaker had received another UAH 10,000 ($273) in compensation.
Thus, the total damage to the state amounts to more than UAH 127,000 ($3,473), and not UAH 117,000 ($3,199) as previously reported.
The case was opened under Part 1 of Article 364 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (abuse of power that caused substantial damage).
The Ukrainian anti-corruption agencies reported on Oct. 24 that a former lawmaker had been charged with illegally receiving compensation for housing.
While SAPO did not name the official, activists from the Chesno fair governance movement said on the Telegram messenger that the MP concerned was Valeriy Patskan. He is said to own an apartment in a new building in Kyiv’s Pechersk district – the government quarter and one of the capital’s most expensive districts for housing.
Activists note that a problem in this case may be that as Patskan has been charged with a minor crime, its statute of limitations expires in March 2023,. The agents must complete the investigation and the court must make a final decision by that time.
Ukrainian MP Oleksiy Honcharenko said on Nov. 4 that Patskan had submitted a letter of resignation from the post of the Chairman of the Accounting Chamber of Ukraine, Ukraine’s highest auditing body.
The former lawmaker himself has not yet commented on either the charges or his resignation.
Patskan was a member of the Verkhovna Rada, Ukraine’s parliament, of the 8th convocation (2014-2019). He has been the Chairman of the Accounting Chamber of Ukraine since March 2018.
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