Top Ukrainian Security Service official suspected of corruption
The National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) and the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office (SAPO) have placed a senior Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) official under suspicion of illicit enrichment and asset misrepresentation, according to statements released on Sept. 2.
While the anti-corruption authorities have not named the suspect, several Ukrainian media outlets, citing law enforcement sources, have identified him as Illia Vitiuk, the former head of cybersecurity at the SBU.
Vitiuk was dismissed from his post on May 1, 2024, following an investigation by Slidstvo.Info that revealed his family had purchased real estate with a market value of at least Hr 25.5 million ($617,000).
Vitiuk's wife reportedly started earning an unusually large income after her husband was appointed to the job and bought an apartment in a premium residential complex in Kyiv below the market price.
The outlet said that its journalist who led the investigation, Yevhenii Shulhat, was later targeted by enlistment officers in retaliation. The officers were allegedly accompanied by an SBU officer from Vitiuk's department.
According to the recent agencies' statements, the suspect purchased an apartment for Hr 21.6 million ($522,000), but it was officially registered under a family member's name.
Meanwhile, the purchase contract declared the apartment's value at just Hr 12.8 million ($310,000), raising questions about the transaction's transparency.
The family member claimed the funds originated from their earnings as an individual entrepreneur, providing legal and consulting services since February 2022.
Earlier reports from 2024 identified the apartment buyer as Yulia Vitiuk, the suspect's wife, who similarly attributed the funds to her entrepreneurial activities in legal and consulting work.
Investigators confirmed that payments were made to the entrepreneur's accounts for these services.
However, SAPO revealed that the money was funneled from an individual suspected of embezzling funds from Ukrainian Railways through an organized crime group, as well as from companies under that individual's control.
Further complicating the case, law enforcement officials said there is no verified source for the remaining Hr 8.8 million ($213,000) spent on the apartment, casting doubt on the legitimacy of the full purchase price.
In response, the SBU condemned the recent charges against Vitiuk, describing them as "an act of revenge" linked to the arrest of several NABU employees in July, a prelude to the Presidential Office's short-lived attempt to end the independence of the two anti-corruption agencies.
As claimed by the SBU, Vitiuk was formally named only after the detention of NABU representatives, despite the fact that the investigation into his alleged illicit enrichment began nearly a year and a half ago.
The SBU claimed that both NABU and SAPO failed to produce "convincing evidence" to substantiate claims of illicit enrichment and false declarations against Vitiuk.
The agency also criticized the investigative bodies for disregarding "multiple expert reports" that reportedly disproved allegations of undervalued property purchases.
