“Servant of the people” did not declare the property of the family living in Moscow and the income of the wife in the Russian Federation

People’s deputy from the “Servant of the People” faction Roman Kaptelov did not indicate in the declaration that his wife and children live in Russia, nor did he declare their Moscow real estate, as well as the income of his wife, a citizen of the Russian Federation, from a state institution in Moscow. This is stated in the investigation “Scheme” (Radio Liberty).

Journalists found out that the deputy’s family left Ukraine a month before the full-scale invasion of Russia, and in December 2023, Kaptelov’s wife began receiving a salary from the “Union of Cultural Centers of the Southwestern Administrative District” in the capital of the Russian Federation.

“Schemes” also established that during July-September 2022, as well as in January 2023, the “servant of the people” went abroad – during that period, several plenary sessions took place, during which, according to the electronic system of the Verkhovna Rada, the parliamentarian “did not voted” or was listed as “absent”. The dates of Kaptelov’s departures, as the journalists found out, coincide with the trips of his wife from Russia to Turkey. In a comment to “Schemes”, the deputy stated that he had declared everything required by law, and he was not aware of the family’s Russian property. When asked about the possible risks associated with his status and his family’s residence in Russia, Kaptelov stated that “these circumstances do not affect his activities as a people’s deputy.”

On January 22, 2022, the family of deputy Kaptelov flew to Istanbul (Turkey) and on the same day headed from there to Moscow. As the journalists found out, Yevgenia Kaptelova provides services in family nutrition and psychosomatology in Russia, and at the end of 2023, she got a job at the state budget institution of culture in Moscow, which is called “Union of Cultural Centers of the South-Western Administrative District”.

According to the extract from the pension fund of the Russian Federation, which was obtained by “Schemes”, in December the wife of the people’s deputy received 52 thousand rubles of salary, that is about 21 thousand hryvnias. But Roman Kaptelov did not show either this work or the income from his online trainings for Russians in his declaration for 2023.

According to the data for 2024, Evgeniya Kaptelova continued to work in the state institution. In nine months of this year, she earned a total of over 700,000 rubles, which is about 300,000 hryvnias, which the deputy, according to the law, must already indicate as his wife’s income in the future declaration for 2024.

This institution, the journalists drew attention, cooperates with the “Warrior” organization – the Russian center for military training of youth, created on the instructions of Vladimir Putin, the purpose of which, as stated on the website, is “to raise a new generation of patriots and defenders of Russia.”

Since 2015, the people’s deputy’s family has owned real estate in Moscow, according to the investigation: a third of the apartment is registered for his wife and children. Journalists found an ad for the sale of an apartment in a similar building nearby on Russian profile sites for real estate sales. The price per square meter is 420,000 rubles (that’s 175,000 hryvnias).

Thus, “Schemy” calculated, 100 square meters of such real estate can cost about 17.5 million hryvnias – that is, the value of the share of the apartment owned by Kaptelov’s wife and children, and which the deputy does not declare, is about 6 million hryvnias.

Oleksiy Boyko, a lawyer of the NGO “Anti-Corruption Center”, notes that the parliamentarian is obliged to declare minor children, as well as property, regardless of whether it was acquired during or before the marriage, as well as the income of the wife.

“Schemes” also found out that the “Servant of the People” traveled abroad several times during the full-scale invasion – the dates of these departures coincided with the trips of his wife from the Russian Federation to Turkey.

On the same days in July-September 2022, as well as in January 2023, according to the electronic system of the Verkhovna Rada, the deputy did not vote for draft laws or was listed as “absent”.

In a comment to “Schemes”, the people’s deputy said that he never hid that his wife is a citizen of Russia.

“Since the introduction of martial law, she has not been in Ukraine, which is explained by legal and factual circumstances. My children do not have Ukrainian citizenship, and I legally do not have the official status of a father due to circumstances beyond my control,” Kaptelov said.

At the same time, according to an extract from the state register of civil status acts, Kaptelov is still listed as their father and remains married to Yevgenia Kaptelova.

According to the deputy, he is not aware of the family’s Russian real estate. He noted that he declared all his property, as well as his wife’s income. But he meant Ukrainian ones, not her salary in a Moscow budget institution, the investigation says.

Regarding trips abroad, the deputy reported that the trips “were carried out for official purposes and in connection with personal circumstances”, but he did not provide copies of the relevant business trips at the request of journalists.

When asked whether he sees risks for state security in the fact that his loved ones live in a country that has launched a full-scale war against Ukraine, and he has the status of a people’s deputy with access to various degrees and types of information, Kaptelov noted: “The question , related to my personal life, are exclusively private and do not affect the performance of my duties as a People’s Deputy of Ukraine. In my activities, I am always guided by the interests of the state and act within the limits of the law.”