NABU and SAPO reported the suspicion to experts from the Kyiv Research Institute of Forensic Examinations. According to the investigation, they intentionally understated the value of the apartment of the wife of a high-ranking SBU official by almost UAH 10 million.
This is stated in the NABU report.
The bureau does not specify the name of the SBU official, but from the details of the case it is clear that it is about the former head of the SBU cybersecurity department, Brigadier General Illya Vityuk.
In December 2023, the officialʼs wife purchased an apartment for UAH 21.6 million, but the contract indicated its value as UAH 12.8 million.
In April 2024, the coupleʼs lawyer initiated an examination at the Kyiv Research Institute of Forensic Expertise. A month later, the commission determined the market value of the apartment at UAH 12.3 million — UAH 9.3 million less than the actual value.
According to NABU and SAPO, the experts used irrelevant real estate objects for comparison. The defense later used this conclusion as evidence in NAPC, NABU, and the court.
In May 2024, the NABU detectives scheduled another examination as part of the investigation into the apartment purchase. On November 11, they withdrew it and asked for the materials to be returned without execution.
However, the experts continued their research and limited the cost of the objects for comparison to $2 500-2 600 per square meter, although the market price was about $3 000. At the same time, they chose the cheapest offers — from $1 550 per square meter — and ignored other analogues.
In early December 2024, the experts signed the conclusion, but dated it on November 8, before the detective withdrew the expertise. The detectives received a copy of the document not from the institute, but from Vityukʼs lawyer.
NABU emphasizes that the creation of an independent expert institution under the Bureau would help reduce corruption risks, protect experts from external pressure, and increase the efficiency of investigations into top corruption cases.
The case of Illya Vityuk
In April 2024, Slidstvo.Info published an investigation into the fact that Vityukʼs wife purchased an apartment in a premium residential complex in the capital in December 2023. The officialʼs declaration states that UAH 12.8 million were paid for the apartment, although its market value exceeds UAH 20 million.
Slidstvo.Info stated that Vityukʼs official earnings would not be enough for this apartment. At the same time, his wife Yulia started doing business shortly after her husband was appointed to this position. SBU assured that her earnings were enough for the purchased real estate.
After that, the investigative journalism agency stated that representatives of the military enlistment office tried to serve a summons to their journalist Yevhen Shulhat on the instructions of an SBU employee. In this way, the special services allegedly wanted to “punish” the investigator.
On April 9, 2024, the head of SBU Vasyl Malyuk suspended Vityuk from his duties. And on May 1, 2024, President Zelensky dismissed Illya Vityuk from the position of head of the department for counterintelligence protection of state interests in the field of information security of SBU.
In September of the same year, NAPC did not confirm Vityukʼs illegal enrichment. At that time, the Agency said that the value of the property owned by Vityuk and his family did not exceed the subsistence minimum by five hundred or more times. Activists and the media accused NAPC of superficially analyzing Vityukʼs lifestyle.
The Agency responded that it acted within the law and that they could not verify the fictitiousness of business activities, gain access to personal correspondence, or conduct searches — this should be done by law enforcement agencies.
Despite this, a year later, NABU declared the suspicion to Vityuk of false declarations. He was taken into custody, but later released on bail.
- Journalists from Slidstvo.Info published another investigation in 2024, claiming that on February 20, 2014, Vityuk filmed how fighters from the “Berkut” special police unit shot protesters on Maidan in Kyiv during the Revolution of Dignity.
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