Editor's note: The article was updated with a confirmation from a source in law enforcement bodies that the suspect in question is Andrii Naumov.
A former head of the internal security department of the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) was charged will illicitly acquiring assets and property worth Hr 32.7 million ($830,000), the State Bureau of Investigation said on May 3.
This is in addition to the charges already pressed against the internationally wanted fugitive, including embezzlement and abuse of power.
Although the bureau did not name the suspect, details of the case point to the former head of the SBU's internal security department, Andrii Naumov, who fled Ukraine in 2022 and was subsequently detained in Serbia on suspicions of money laundering.
A source in a law enforcement agency confirmed for the Kyiv Independent that Naumov is indeed the suspect in question.
The ex-official was released from custody last December but the trial proceedings against him in Serbia continue. Naumov is wanted in Ukraine but Serbian authorities have rejected a request for his extradition.
Naumov was detained on the border between Serbia and North Macedonia on June 7, 2022, reportedly carrying undeclared cash amounting to around 600,000 euros ($652,000), $120,000, and two emeralds.
The aforementioned assets are listed in the bureau's indictment from May 3, in addition to two cars, a Toyota Land Cruiser and a BMW X6.
The suspect acquired these assets while in high-level positions at the SBU. He is also suspected of illicitly acquiring over 3.2 million (over $80,000) during his tenure as the head of a state-owned company between 2019 and 2021.
Martin Fornusek
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