“Photo hcac.court.gov.ua Interesting “honesty” “My standard of living corresponds to the property I and my family members have and the income we receive. I confirm.” And signature – M.M. Rakovich. Such interesting data can be…”, — write: www.unian.ua
Photo hcac.court.gov.uaInteresting “honesty”“My standard of living corresponds to the property available to me and my family members and the income we receive. I confirm.” And signature – M.M. Rakovich. Such interesting data can be found in the Prosecutor’s Integrity Questionnaire, published in open access on the website of the General Prosecutor’s Office.
Exactly four years will pass and Maksym Rakovych, the deputy prosecutor of the Odesa region, will have to explain to his colleagues from the SAP and NABU detectives as part of the criminal proceedings where he and his ex-wife, as well as their close relatives, unexpectedly accumulated funds and real estate worth several tens of millions UAH
Integrity questionnaire of Maksym Rakovich, 2021. Source: website of the GPUOn December 24, 2024, the High Anti-Corruption Court ordered the Special Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office to open criminal proceedings against Deputy Odesa Regional Prosecutor Maksym Rakovich under Articles 368-5 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine “Illegal Enrichment” and 366-2 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine “Declaration of Unreliable Information”.
The court ordered to enter into the EDDR information about the commission of criminal offenses by the deputy head of the Odesa regional prosecutor’s office and his roommate. Source of the screenshot: Unified State Register of Court DecisionsProbable future suspicion regarding the illegal acquisition of a considerable amount – UAH 52.6 million – prosecutor Maksym Rakovich can share with his ex-wife (and now just a roommate) Valentina Rakovich. Although she worked as an “ordinary employee” of the Ministry of Justice, most of the property officially indicated in the prosecutor’s declaration was registered to her, in particular, a small apartment, a house in Bilhorod-Dnistrovskyi, and an expensive car. The deputy regional prosecutor himself is formally homeless and lives “under the wing” of his ex. But there is also undeclared property belonging to other relatives – Rakovich’s mother and mother-in-law.
Journalists dug up…
Journalists drew attention to the fact that the Rakovich family can clearly not live according to their fortunes in November of last year. As the mass media wrote, in recent years the prosecutor’s family began to increase real estate at a rapid pace. In August 2023, Maksym Mykolayovych’s mother, Natalya Rakovich, purchased a house with an area of 274.5 square meters in Sanzhiyka, Odesa region, located a few minutes’ walk from the coast. In addition, at the same time, an apartment in Odesa with an area of about 100 square meters was registered for her.
The estate by the sea of the Rakovich family, a collage from the stopcor.org website with a link to the TG-channel AbsolutionAs for the mother-in-law, in 2023 she became the owner of an Odessa apartment with an area of 94.7 square meters not far from the sea. In addition, she already had a house in the city of Bilhorod-Dnistrovskyi and a 69-square-meter house in the “French” residential complex in Odesa.
By the way, earlier, in 2018, the mother and father of the deputy Odesa regional prosecutor gave him unexpected gifts – UAH 650,000 each. It is interesting that although after that, in 2019, Maksym and Valentina Rakovichi divorced, formally, according to the declaration, they live together all the time. Moreover, when Maksym’s father, Mykola Rakovich, passed away (by the way, he, like his son, worked all his life in the prosecutor’s office), he left a considerable inheritance (including UAH 7.4 million and expensive real estate) not to his son, but to his ex-wife.
…And the law enforcement officers didn’t see it?
In general, according to logic, after the appearance of all these facts, law enforcement officers should be the first to react to them somehow. But since this did not happen, public anti-corruption organizations took the initiative. In November 2024, the StopCor resource submitted a corresponding request to the leadership of the Odesa Regional Prosecutor’s Office. However, the statement did not have any public consequences.
But the NGO “Brotherhood of Defenders” acted more categorically. Its representatives decided not to write requests, but immediately with a statement about the commission of a crime. On December 12, 2024, such a statement was received by SAP and… again zero reaction.
Fragment of the statement of the NGO “Brotherhood of Defenders”.Therefore, the NGO “Brotherhood of Defenders” appealed to the High Anti-Corruption Court with a complaint about the inaction of the authorized persons of the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office and with a request to oblige the SAP to open criminal proceedings in the case of the Rakovichs and to start a pre-trial investigation.
What did VAKS decide?
As evidenced by the VAX decision, the court fully agreed with the arguments of the anti-corruption activists. In the motivational part of the court decision dated 24.12.2024, it is stated that “The statement submitted by the Complainant to the SAP contains the circumstances that, among other things, there is a real reasonable probability that the assets specified in the application amount to approximately 52 million. 602 thousand 428 hryvnias were purchased at the expense of illegal funds received during the performance of state functions by the deputy head of the Odesa Regional Prosecutor’s Office OSOBA_5, and they were issued to close relatives of the prosecutor only for visibility (disguise). The specified circumstances may indicate that the prosecutor, as the subject of the declaration and the person authorized to perform the functions of the state, has committed criminal offenses for which criminal liability is provided in accordance with Art. 368-5 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine “Illegal Enrichment” and Art. 366-2 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine “Declaration of unreliable information”.
Fragment of the VAKS decision. Source of the screenshot: Unified State Register of Court DecisionsCurrently, the decision of the VAX has gained legal force, and the SAP had to start a pre-trial investigation based on the facts found by the media and public activists. As a result, even two proceedings were opened – 42024000050000039 – on the fact that Maksym and Valentina Rakovych acquired assets, the value of which significantly exceeds their legal income, and 42024000050000040 – on the facts of intentionally entering in the declarations of the participants known false information. NABU will investigate the case under the procedural guidance by the SAP organization.
A fragment of the response of the NGO “Brotherhood of Defenders” regarding the opening of criminal proceedingsIf the facts regarding the introduction of false information in the declaration are confirmed, the persons involved in the case face a fine of four thousand to five thousand non-taxable minimum incomes of citizens or community service for a period of one hundred and fifty to two hundred and forty hours, or restriction of freedom for a period of up to two years, or deprivation of liberty for the same period, with deprivation of the right to hold certain positions or engage in certain activities for a period of up to three years. If the facts of illegal enrichment are confirmed, the punishment for Maksym and Valentina Rakovich may be imprisonment for a term of five to ten years with deprivation of the right to hold certain positions or engage in certain activities for a term of up to three years.