The National Anti‑Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) has notified forensic experts at the Kyiv Research Institute of Forensic Expertise (KNDISE) of suspicion over producing knowingly false reports on the value of an apartment belonging to the wife of a senior official of the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU).
Purchase of the apartment and the experts’ initial conclusion
In December 2023 the wife of the senior official bought an apartment for 21.6 million UAH, but the sale contract listed its value as 12.8 million UAH. Acting in the couple's legal interests, their lawyers commissioned a valuation and construction expert examination at the Kyiv Research Institute of Forensic Expertise (KNDISE) in April 2024.
By May a commission of experts had produced a report stating the apartment’s market value at 12.3 million UAH — 9.3 million UAH less than the actual purchase price.
Detectives’ actions, a new examination and doubts about the methodology
That same month detectives ordered a commission examination as part of the criminal proceedings. On 11 November 2024 the detective withdrew the request for the examination and asked for the materials to be returned without being completed, but the experts continued their work, NABU says.
According to the investigation, the experts selected irrelevant properties for comparison, set a cap on value at no more than USD 2,500–2,600 per sq. m instead of the market rate of USD 3,000, and deliberately chose the cheapest offers — from USD 1,550 per sq. m. The report they signed is dated 8 November 2024, although it was in fact signed in early December 2024.
Copy of the report and the Bureau’s remarks
Detectives received a copy of the report not from the Kyiv Research Institute of Forensic Expertise (KNDISE) but from the lawyer of the suspected senior official, NABU notes. In the view of the investigation, this indicates manipulation of evidence and procedural breaches.
“We note that such manipulation of evidence would be impossible if an expert institution operated within NABU. The Bureau’s leadership has for several years repeatedly stressed the critical need to create an independent expert institution. This would eliminate corruption risks, prevent external pressure on experts and significantly increase the effectiveness of pre‑trial investigations in top‑level corruption cases,” NABU said.
