Possession of more than ₴88 million: the ex-head of the migration service was informed of the suspicion

Maxim Sokolyuk

Law enforcement officials informed the former head of the State Migration Service of suspicion of involvement in the embezzlement of over 88 million hryvnias.

This was reported by the press service of the National Anti-Corruption Bureau.

According to «Word and Deed» information from its own sources, it is about Maksym Sokoliuk, who headed the service from 2015 to 2021.

It is noted that the former heads of the State Migration Service of Ukraine reported suspicion of appropriation of budget funds. The actions of the suspect are classified under Part 5 of Article 191 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine.

Earlier, in this case, the deputy head of the State Security Service, the head of one of the departments of the service and a businessman were informed of the suspicion. The investigation established that in 2015, the migration service received a building in the center of Kyiv from the state to house the service's central office. The businessman, who for a long time was in «friendly» relations with representatives of the State Migration Service and other powerful officials, organized a long scheme of embezzlement of budget funds using controlled persons in the structure of the migration service.

«For several years, the criminal group seized budget funds by overestimating the cost, issuing «empty acts» and duplicating works,» the report says.

As a result of the implementation of the scheme, losses in the amount of more than 88 million hryvnias were caused to the budget.

We will remind that the ex-chairman of the agrarian committee of the Verkhovna Rada, the current minister, is suspected of expropriating state land worth 291 million hryvnias and attempting to expropriate land worth another 190 million hryvnias.