The High Anti-Corruption Court fined Andriy Klochko of the Servant of the People party for failing to appear in court

The High Anti-Corruption Court imposed a fine of 6,656 UAH on Andriy Klochko, a member of parliament from the “Servant of the People” party, for failing to appear at a court hearing without a valid reason. The lawmaker is suspected of illegal enrichment totaling more than 11 million hryvnias.

The court ruled that the lawmaker’s reason for absence was not valid, as Klochko could have participated in the hearing via video conference. According to human rights activists, the politician was on a business trip abroad attending a seminar as a representative of the parliamentary group on NATO issues. Previously, the High Anti-Corruption Court had already denied the lawmaker’s motion to postpone the hearing for this reason.

Source: Anti-Corruption Action Center.

Andriy Klochko is a defendant in a case involving illicit enrichment. According to the National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) and the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (SAPO), in 2020–2021, the MP acquired assets worth 25 million hryvnias, even though the official income of the parliamentarian and his wife during that period amounted to no more than 14 million hryvnias. The difference between their income and the value of the purchased property amounted to 11 million hryvnias. This includes 3 land plots in the Kyiv region, 5 apartments in the capital, 2 non-residential premises, as well as a Tesla and a Mercedes-Benz. To conceal the existence of this property, the MP registered most of it in the names of close relatives, while retaining full rights to dispose of it.

Many high-ranking Ukrainian officials have license plates registered to other vehicles or to vehicles that do not exist at all. They are not legally permitted to use so-called “cover license plates.” For example, the license plates belonging to Andriy Klochko, a People’s Servant MP, are registered to a different car.