Zakarpattia district council deputy suspected of false asset declaration – photos

The Transcarpathian Regional Prosecutor’s Office reported that a deputy of the Berehove District Council was served with a notice of suspicion for submitting knowingly false information in his declaration worth UAH 8.3 million and for legalization of proceeds of crime.

The investigation was launched, in particular, based on the results of a full audit of the deputy’s declaration for 2022 conducted by the National Agency for the Prevention of Corruption (NACP).

According to materials published on the agency’s website, the suspect is Arseniy Bohar.

It was established that the deputy concealed a Ford Mustang vehicle jointly owned by the couple, multimillion-hryvnia income, as well as financial transactions related to the purchase and sale of an elite Mercedes-Benz S-Class when submitting his declaration.

Bohar purchased the luxury car in October 2022 for UAH 3.75 million, despite the fact that his confirmed income for more than 20 years of business activity amounted to less than UAH 227,000. A few days later, he resold the Mercedes-Benz and used the money for his own needs.

These transactions, as well as the income itself, were not reflected in the declaration.

During the full NACP inspection, the district council deputy also failed to confirm the legitimacy of the sources of origin of the cash he declared in the amount of $180,000, €45,000 and UAH 1.5 million, as well as jewelry worth UAH 4.5 million.

Bohar is charged with intentionally entering knowingly false information in a declaration (Part 2 of Article 366-2 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine), as well as legalization (laundering) of the proceeds of crime (Part 1 of Article 209 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine).

Arseniy Bohar is a deputy of the Berehove District Council from the Servant of the People party.

He is known as a local businessman and public figure, particularly as a Roma rights activist.

He is the founder of the public organization Romano Bakhtalo Drom (Roma Happy Road). Before being elected to the district council, he worked for three years as an adviser to the head of the Vynohradiv District State Administration on Roma integration.

Together with his brother, Arseniy Bohar is the head and co-owner of Sevliush Univer LLC, whose main activity is the production of metal products. In addition, brothers Arseniy and David Bohar manage the charity fund Roma Foundation of Vynohradiv District.

• Earlier in January, a scheme to "split" the food retail business for the purpose of tax evasion was uncovered in the Transcarpathian region.