Two Years of "Silence": The Special Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office Responds on Whether Former Deputy Prosecutor General Verbytsky Has Been Charged
UA.NEWS received a response from the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office to its inquiry regarding the status of the investigation into the case of possible illicit enrichment involving former Deputy Prosecutor General Dmytro Verbytskyi. Spoiler: After two years of investigation, the “cottage and Porsche case” has not yet reached the stage of formal charges, and the case has not been referred to court.
As reported by the SAPO press service in response to our inquiry, the pretrial investigation in the criminal proceedings, which began in May 2024, is still ongoing.
There are no suspects
The main conclusion of two years of work by NABU detectives and SAPO prosecutors can be summed up in one concise phrase: “No one has been notified of any suspicion.”
At the same time, the agency emphasized that it is currently impossible to provide any further details of the investigation. The reason is standard—the confidentiality of the pretrial investigation (Article 222 of the Criminal Procedure Code of Ukraine). The SAP believes that disclosing information about the progress of the case could “cause harm to an individual, society, and the state.”
As a reminder, the Verbytsky case became one of the most high-profile corruption scandals of 2024. Journalistic investigations revealed that the then-Deputy Prosecutor General owned:
- A property in the “Konik” residential complex, the value of which was understated by a factor of six in the documents.
- Porsche cars and real estate registered in the name of his common-law wife, whose official income did not account for such luxury.
Although Verbytskyi resigned from his post in the summer of 2024 “of his own accord,” the public expected a legal assessment of his assets. However, as evidenced by the SAP’s response, two years after the proceedings began, the status of those involved remains unchanged.
The UA.NEWS editorial team emphasizes: Dmytro Verbytskyi’s status as a “national figure” requires law enforcement not only to conduct a “lengthy investigation” but also to produce concrete results. At present, however, it appears that the “passage of time” is working not in the interest of justice, but in the interest of the suspects, whose property continues to “delight the eye” behind the closed doors of investigators’ offices.
We will continue to monitor this “never-ending story” and remind anti-corruption agencies that two years is more than enough time to distinguish legitimate income from “magic” in the real estate market.
Previously, schemes linked to the scandalously dismissed Deputy Prosecutor General Dmytro Verbytskyi and his associates were uncovered in Odesa. Those implicated in the schemes include former Deputy Mayor Dmytro Zheman, the owners of Baltic Auto Shipping Ukraine LLC, Tetyana Zaitseva, an official from the State Environmental Inspection, as well as luxury villas, cottages in gated communities, brand-new vehicles, and multi-million deals. Details are available in the UA.News investigation.
As a reminder, instead of facing trial, the controversial former official is now calmly sipping coffee and building a political career, complaining to investigative journalists’ cameras: “I don’t live a lavish life, but I don’t live poorly either.”
Read the full chronology of scandals involving Dmytro Verbytskyi in the article.
