Position: Acting Head of the State Customs Service of Ukraine.
Sphere of corruption: customs.
Region of corruption activity: Kyiv region.
Qualification: the official's actions were qualified under Part 1 of Article 366-2.
Status: at large.
Case story: On January 6, 2025, law enforcement officers reported suspicion of false declaration of over $100,000 to the acting head of the State Customs Service of Ukraine, Serhiy Zvyagintsev.
As reported by the SAPO, it was found that in the declarations for 2021-2023, the official did not indicate a residential building with an area of 236.8 square meters and a land plot near Kyiv on which it is located. The total value of the undeclared property reaches more than $ 100 thousand.
As noted by NABU, it was registered in the name of Zvyagintsev's wife's father, but in fact the official and his family were the owner and manager.
Detectives and prosecutors began the investigation based on their own findings.
Zvyagintsev's actions are classified as a crime under Part 1 of Article 366-2 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine. This may result in a fine of 4,000-5,000 non-taxable minimum incomes of citizens, community service for a term of 150 to 240 hours, up to 2 years of restriction of liberty or imprisonment for the same term with deprivation of the right to hold certain positions or engage in certain activities for a term of up to 3 years.
On January 10, 2025, a judge of the High Anti-Corruption Court chose a preventive measure for Serhiy Zvyagintseva. The investigating judge of the High Anti-Corruption Court supported the position of the SAPO prosecutor and set bail in the amount of 60,560 hryvnias.
It is noted that this is the maximum bail amount provided by law for the crime in which Zvyagintsev is suspected. In addition, the court imposed a number of relevant procedural obligations on the official.
Persons potentially involved in corruption schemes: it is known from open sources that Zvyagintsev had no accomplices.
Assets: In his 2023 tax return, Zvyagintsev indicated that he only owns a garage in Odessa. At the same time, his wife owns two apartments (in Odessa and Kyiv), as well as a garage.
In addition, the official owns a Toyota Land Cruiser Prado 150, purchased in 2022 (costing UAH 1,881,041). At the same time, his wife owns two cars at once: a Mercedes-Benz V 220 D (costing UAH 1,559,665) and a Kia Sorento.
The official's income for the second year of the full-scale invasion was UAH 1,221,691. At the same time, the income of his wife Zvyagintseva is not indicated at all.
Serhiy Zvyagintsev declared 29,300 euros in cash, and 218,081 UAH in his bank account. At the same time, his wife declared 51,000 dollars in cash, 41,500 euros, and 42,104 UAH in her bank accounts.
Persons who should have reacted: law enforcement agencies responded promptly to Zvyagintsev's criminal activities, presenting him with a suspicion.
Scandals: Zvyagintsev's name is associated in the media with the scandal of 2021, when the head of the Ivano-Frankivsk customs, Svyatoslav Peresunko, was detained for taking a bribe. Then the Security Service of Ukraine and the Prosecutor General's Office neutralized a large-scale scheme of systematic threat to state governance in the sphere of activity of the State Customs Service of Ukraine.
Law enforcement officers uncovered a scheme of "extortion" from entities engaged in foreign economic activity, organized by one of the heads of regional customs offices of the State Customs Service of Ukraine, which operated in the area of operation of the Kropyvnytskyi and Ivano-Frankivsk customs offices. Peresunko created a group of individuals, which he coordinated through his assistant.
As journalist Yevhen Plynsky later wrote, the detained Svyatoslav Peresunko was a protégé of the Deputy Head of the State Customs Service, Serhiy Zvyagintsev.
Sources:
https://suspilne.media/919237-ocilniku-derzmitsluzbi-zvagincevu-povidomili-pro-pidozru/
https://www.stopcor.org/ukr/dossier-person/person-zvyagintsev-sergij-borisovich.html
https://public.nazk.gov.ua/documents/26d51966-3422-42ee-9e79-ad71306d645d