The National Anti-corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) has closed cases on possible illegal enrichment opened against leader of the Radical Party Oleh Liashko and First Deputy Chairman of the Foreign Intelligence Service Serhiy Semochko.
The proceedings were closed pursuant to a Constitutional Court ruling, which abolished criminal liability for illegal enrichment, the Ukrainian News information agency reports, citing a law enforcement source.
Both cases were investigated under Part 3 of Article 368-2 of the Criminal Code (illegal enrichment).
As reported earlier, the Constitutional Court of Ukraine on February 26 declared unconstitutional Article No. 368-2 of the Criminal Code, which provides for liability for illegal enrichment. The conclusion declares that "Article 368-2 of the Ukrainian Criminal Code loses its force from the date when the Constitutional Court issued its conclusion," the ruling said.
On February 27, NABU stated that due to the court's decision, all proceedings against corrupt officials would be closed.
Earlier, the media wrote about the acquisition by Liashko of a 550-square-meter house and two land plots with a total area of 0.6 hectares worth UAH 15 million (about US$556,000) in the village of Kozyn in Kyiv region.
As UNIAN reported earlier, investigative journalists established facts that may prove Semochko's ties with Russia via his family members and the "aggressor state might have paid this official for information from him." Nashi Groshi journalists found evidence that Semochko owns real estate worth over UAH 200 million (US$7.4 million), while his family members, namely his common-law wife and her daughter, have Russian citizenship and run a business in Russian-occupied Crimea.
