Investigation Claims Shokin Hid Wealth Using De Facto Wife
Ex-Prosecutor General Viktor Shokin, who was dismissed in March, has a wealthy common-law wife and a child not specified as family members in his assets declaration, the ‘Schemes’ TV show informs.
According to the journalists, the investigation established that Shokin has a common-law wife and a child.
"It could be his personal life, but they officially own several luxury real estates, including abroad. And Shokin did not report this in his assets declaration," the TV show notes.
The investigation claims that a Ukrainian citizen Oksana Hrynevych – a deputy chief doctor of the government Feofaniya Clinical Hospital in Kyiv – is the common-law wife of Shokin. She owns a luxury ₴10 million ($400,000) property in the Czech Republic and several land plots and a large house in the countryside in Kyivska Oblast.
The journalists also found out that Shokin and Hrynevych had a common child who formally owned certain assets. At the same time, Shokin neither declared these assets in his declaration nor reported having a wife and a child.
According to Transparency International Ukraine expert Yevhen Cherniak, this is a ‘popular scheme’ among Ukrainian officials. "They may do sham divorces and transfer property to their ex-spouses, while continuing to live together and not being obliged to declare this property," he said.
According to the investigation, Shokin transferred his property in Kyivska Oblast countryside to his 3-year old daughter in summer 2014, immediately after he had been appointed Deputy Prosecutor General. This property was never declared. In the meantime, he continues to rent another estate next door surrounded by a common fence with his daughter’s property.
Journalists have tried to seek the comments of Shokin and his wife, but they did not respond.
Viktor Shokin was the Prosecutor General from June 2014 to March 2016.
Source: Ukrayinska Pravda
