Ex-deputy head of Presidential Office charged with new offenses, including money laundering, bribery
A former deputy head of the Presidential Office was charged with money laundering and taking a particularly large bribe, Ukraine’s National Anti-Corruption Bureau’s (NABU) said in a statement published on April 16.
NABU does not name the person charged with the crimes in its report, but the case involves Andrii Smyrnov, who was a deputy head of the Presidential Office from 2019 to 2024.
Before the new charges were announced, Smyrnov was accused of illicitly enriching himself by Hr 15.7 million ($380,000) while in his former position. Smyrnov acquired assets worth more than Hr 17 million ($412,000) between 2020-2022, although he officially reported his salary and savings for the period as Hr 1.3 million ($31,500).
According to NABU’s statement, from 2019 to 2021, the accused illegally cashed in funds, which he laundered by building houses on 300 square meters in a recreational area of Odesa Oblast.
Smyrnov turned to the beneficiary of an unnamed company that owned land by the sea and transferred almost Hr 6.5 million ($157,000) for the construction of the facilities to conceal the origins of the money.
The constructed buildings used by the top official were initially registered in the company’s name, but after Smyrnov was charged for the first time in May 2024, they were re-registered in the name of a trustee.
NABU detectives also determined that in 2022, the top official was approached by the owner of an unnamed construction company with a proposal to provide him services worth $100,000 for constructing one of the houses on the coast in Odesa Oblast.
In return, the individual asked to Smyrnov to facilitate a decision by Ukraine’s Antimonopoly Committee to cancel the results of a tender that was earlier won by a competitor, and to ensure his company’s victory in the new tender.
According to the investigation, Smyrnov accepted the proposal and took advantage of his official position.
Smyrnov held the position of deputy head from September 2019 until March 2024, when President Volodymyr Zelensky dismissed him without naming a reason.
The Kyiv IndependentKateryna Denisova