The National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NACB) and the Sviatoshynskyi District Court are covering up the head of one of the NACB units, Mykhailo Romaniuk, who was previously found to have VIP cars and luxury real estate registered to relatives, and his brother was caught taking a bribe.
Informator.ua reported this, stating that these structures are responsible for a circular response and attempts to hide information of public importance.
"The NACP refused to answer whether the head of one of the NACB divisions, Mykhailo Romaniuk, in whose possession VIP cars and luxury real estate registered to relatives had previously been found, was checked. The Sviatoshynskyi District Court of the capital also issued a retraction in the case of the detective's brother, Ihor Romaniuk, against whom they have not been able to make a decision in a bribery case for 8 years. In fact, both the NACP and the court sided with a person who is reasonably suspected of corruption," the publication noted.
According to journalists, the NACP used a formal approach. Thus, it turns out that the agency not only ignores socially important information from journalists about possible violations of the law by the NACB detective Mykhailo Romaniuk, but also covers him up by engaging in retraction, the report notes.
"The NACP, established 10 years ago, demonstrates a full set of tools of classic Ukrainian officials. Otherwise, we would have seen a report about, at least, the initiated inspection in response to publications in the media," noted Informator.ua.
At the same time, the publication reported, the head of the Sviatoshynskyi District Court of Kyiv, in response to a request to consider a criminal case about a bribe to Mykhailo Romaniuk’s brother – Ihor, said that he only exercises general management of the court's work.
Journalists recalled what information the NACP was supposed to check and what the court asked about.
"The Informator.ua investigation established that the head of one of the NACB divisions, Mykhailo Romaniuk, used luxury cars, a Mercedes-Benz E 220 CDI, which belonged to his mother-in-law, and an AUDI A6 registered to his father. An apartment in Irpin, a land plot in Bucha, Kyiv Region with an area of 1,320 sq m, and an unfinished (allegedly) house of 219 sq m were registered to his mother. Only in the declaration for 2024 did Mykhailo Romaniuk have an apartment of 117.4 sq m, which belongs directly to him. And that one was purchased under a preferential state program for defenders of eOselia," the material notes.
The publication emphasized that one of the most famous cases that Mykhailo Romaniuk conducted after joining the NACB was Rotterdam+: the longer the detective kept the story with him on hold, the richer he became.
Informator.ua also reported that for 8 years, the Sviatoshynskyi District Court of Kyiv has not made a decision regarding the accused brother of Mykhailo Romaniuk – senior investigator of the Kyiv-Sviatoshynskyi Tax Inspectorate Ihor Romaniuk. According to the Prosecutor General's Office, this investigator demanded and received a bribe of USD 20,000 from the head of a company.
"The most likely talisman for Romaniuk from prison is his brother – Mykhailo Romaniuk, who has made a successful career in the National Anti-Corruption Bureau all these years. According to our data, Mykhailo Romaniuk, who worked in the central office of the tax police until 2016, was known among his colleagues for his extraordinary appetite for extorting bribes from entrepreneurs. It seems that his "talents" are very much appreciated at his new place of work – in the National Anti-Corruption Bureau, and not only – once two different structures undertook to cover for him," the publication concluded.
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