NACP reveals indications of illicit enrichment of Zaporizhzhia City Council Secretary amounted over UAH 9 million

18.08.2023

The National Agency on Corruption Prevention (NACP) has revealed indications of a corruption criminal offense in the lifestyle of Anatolii Kurtiev, Secretary of Zaporizhzhia City Council and acting mayor, which indicate his illicit enrichment of more than UAH 9 million. In August a year earlier, the National Anti-Corruption Bureau detectives found and seized almost UAH 600,000, USD 230,000, and EUR 650 during a search of the apartment that Kurtev rented together with his assistant. The search was conducted as part of a pre-trial investigation in a criminal proceeding allegedly involving the City Council Secretary. Although Kurtev stated in response to the NACP's request that he did not know anything about the seized funds and the apartment, the NACP, including the NABU materials, found that he did use the apartment with his assistant, and the seized funds did not correspond to the income they had legally received. In the amended declaration for 2020, Mr. Kurtev stated that he had no monetary assets, and information from the State Register of Individual Taxpayers shows that his income for 2021 and 2022 did not allow him to accumulate the seized amount. The fact that he used the apartment was confirmed by witnesses and information from video surveillance cameras. The assistant secretary of the City Council, who also lived in the apartment, said that the funds seized during the search belonged to him and his parents. However, the NACP found out that neither he nor his parents could have legally obtained such funds. Thus, Mr. Kurtev acquired unjustified assets of UAH 9 million 31 thousand, which exceed his legal income. Based on the results of lifestyle monitoring, the NACP approved a substantiated conclusion regarding the Secretary of Zaporizhzhia City Council in connection with the revelation of indications of a corrupt criminal offense, namely illegal enrichment, liability for which is provided for in Article 368-5 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine, and sent it to the NABU for pre-trial investigation.