Investigating judge of the Higher Anti-Corruption Court, Volodymyr Voronko, partially granted the detective’s request to change the preventive measure for the ex-deputy head of the President’s Office, Andrii Smirnov. The court decided to replace the bail with custody with the alternative of bail in the amount of 18 million hryvnias. Smirnov was taken into custody directly in the courtroom, informs Anti-Corruption Center.
Andriy Smirnov is suspected of illegal enrichment in the amount of UAH 15.7 million, the legalization of these funds, as well as the acceptance of illegal benefits in the form of construction works worth $100,000. According to the investigation, Smirnov purchased immovable and movable property worth more than UAH 17 million, which significantly exceeds his official income.
In 2019-2021, according to investigators, he illegally received funds and directed them to the construction of private houses with an area of more than 300 square meters in the Odesa region. In order to hide the source of the funds, Smirnov allegedly turned to the beneficiary of the company that owned a plot of land on the coast and transferred almost 6.5 million UAH for the construction of buildings.
The building was registered to “Avalon 2005” LLC, but after the announcement of suspicion, Smirnov’s ownership was transferred to Andrii Milman, the owner of the company. At the beginning of 2022, Smirnov was approached by the owner of the construction company “Relic Invest”, which was engaged in the construction of his house. He talked about the situation with the loss in the tender and offered to perform construction work for 100 thousand dollars in exchange for assistance. The investigation believes that Smirnov agreed, gave instructions on further actions and later supervised the implementation of the agreements made by businessman Chernyshev.
