Deputy Head of the Investigative Department of the Police, Yakiv Melnyk, through his mother-in-law, "covers" conversion centers and fraudulent organizations

Deputy Head of the Investigative Department of the Police, Yakiv Melnyk, through his mother-in-law, "covers" conversion centers and fraudulent organizations

Deputy Head of the Investigative Department of the Main Directorate of the National Police in Kyiv, Yakiv Melnyk, owns six apartments registered under proxy names, a cryptocurrency wallet worth hundreds of thousands of dollars, several bank safety deposit boxes with a huge amount of cash, and a homestead. This information recently appeared in the media. "Antikor" managed to uncover how the police officer and his wife, a former prosecutor, amassed all of this, and which influential figures help him remain in his position despite questions about his property status.

In Yakiv Melnyk’s declarations, everything looks quite modest – an apartment owned by his wife, another by their children, cars registered under his parents’ names, salaries, small amounts of cash, and membership in the Bar Council of Kyiv Region. His wife, Oksana Melnyk, worked as a prosecutor in the Kyiv City Prosecutor’s Office until Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, and her declarations are virtually identical to what her husband reported. However, thanks to connections in the lawyer-prosecutor community, it was possible to find out who might have been or still is overseeing the couple’s work in law enforcement.

On December 5, Yakiv Melnyk, Deputy Head of the Investigative Department of the Main Directorate of the National Police in Kyiv, participated in the XVII KYIV CRIMINAL LAW FORUM organized by the Ukrainian Bar Association.

The general partner of the forum was the law firm "EQUITY," managed by the well-known lawyer Oleh Malinovskyi. His profile mentions, among other things, defending a partner of former People’s Deputy Oleksandr Hranovskyi in a case related to the "Sky Mall" shopping and entertainment center in Kyiv.

Previously, Malinovskyi’s partner at "EQUITY" was another prominent lawyer, Viktor Barsuk, who is also closely linked to Hranovskyi, long considered an overseer of the prosecutor’s office. In 2016, journalists documented meetings between Hranovskyi, Malinovskyi, and Barsuk. Moreover, the former deputy even used cars registered under one of the lawyers’ names.

Currently, Barsuk’s wife is the infamously known judge of the Northern Commercial Court of Appeal, Maryna Barsuk, formerly Didychenko, who possesses enormous wealth. In 2021, the Barsuks’ wedding was attended by sanctioned businessman Pavlo Fuks, and later they were spotted at Fuks’ birthday celebration styled as a Venetian carnival.

The participation of police officer Melnyk in an event organized by lawyers close to Oleksandr Hranovskyi, who oversaw the prosecutor’s office, could be attributed to the fact that he and his wife are members of the bar association. However, it turned out that Melnyk has much more in common with the well-known lawyers connected to Hranovskyi than just membership in the organization.

A woman with the same name as Melnyk’s wife’s mother, Olena Kupchuk, was the director of LLC "Sanhouseinvest" in 2012-2013, a company engaged in providing financial services. At that time, the firm was registered in Kyiv at 7/14 Bohomoltsia Street.

This building is located directly opposite the main building of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. According to a source in business circles, the building had a notorious reputation during those years.

The building with an office on Bohomoltsia Street across from the Ministry of Internal Affairs

“In the basement of the building on Bohomoltsia, right under the noses of law enforcement, a money conversion center was entrenched. Everything that happened there was disguised as a financial institution. For greater influence, a parliamentary reception office for ‘Regional’ MP Elbrus Tedeyev was set up there. Incidentally, he was part of a parliamentary group for inter-parliamentary relations with Russia,” says the source. He claims that the MP’s reception office opened up vast opportunities for the operators, as, by law, such premises cannot be searched or subjected to investigative actions.

“This office is well-known in the legal community because it was frequently visited by lawyer Oleksiy Kucher, who often appeared in the news at the time as a defender of various scoundrels. For example, he defended one of the accomplices in the ‘Avakov’s backpacks’ case,” the source adds.

Recall that in 2014-2015, the Ministry of Internal Affairs signed a contract for 5,000 backpacks worth nearly 15 million hryvnias. According to media reports, the backpacks were purchased through a company controlled by the son of the then-Minister of Internal Affairs, Arsen Avakov. In 2016, hidden camera footage emerged showing Oleksandr Avakov discussing the backpack delivery with Deputy Minister Serhiy Chebotar. Prosecutors claimed the backpacks cost five times more than their actual value. The case involved Oleksandr Avakov, Serhiy Chebotar, and Volodymyr Lytvyn, who was defended by lawyer Kucher. In 2018, the case was closed due to a lack of evidence, although the suspects faced up to 12 years in prison.

Lawyer Oleksiy Kucher hails from Kharkiv, as does the aforementioned former Minister of Internal Affairs Arsen Avakov. It was in a district of this city that former MP Oleksandr Hranovskyi ran for the Verkhovna Rada, later gaining control over the prosecutor’s office. The media reported that Hranovskyi ran in Kharkiv to leverage administrative resources through the then-mayor Hennadiy Kernes, whom he allegedly helped resolve issues with criminal cases.

Oleksiy Kucher became a People’s Deputy from the "Servant of the People" party in 2019, later headed the Kharkiv Regional State Administration, and now leads the State Regulatory Service of Ukraine. According to his declaration, Kucher owns 77 bitcoins. Their current value is estimated at 7 million dollars, although he only reported their purchase price from 2013.

According to media reports, police officer Yakiv Melnyk also owns a cryptocurrency wallet valued at $400,000. It’s possible that Kucher inspired Melnyk to pursue this idea. After all, with a good understanding of the topic, cryptocurrency can help conceal income on one hand and legalize it on the other.

As the publication’s source adds, the office on Bohomoltsia Street, where Melnyk’s mother-in-law worked, housed a rather diverse group of people. For instance, a company trading in recycled plastic was also registered there.

“When Yulia Tymoshenko became Prime Minister, a tax was introduced for recyclers and waste traders that effectively killed small businesses and opened doors only for large companies. Panic erupted in the office because it became clear that no one wanted to operate at a loss. It then emerged that either a security guard or a driver had a brother who worked for Khomutynnyk. At the time, he was a member of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Tax Policy,” the source explains. According to him, the office workers managed to secure a meeting with Khomutynnyk, who was considered very close to the family of fugitive president Viktor Yanukovych. They tried to convince the MP to propose amendments to Tymoshenko’s tax initiative to keep the tax rate at zero for recyclers.

“The recycling business and the financial sector intersected in the office on Bohomoltsia. Essentially, a conversion fund operated through them. This was partly backed by seals from the ‘Pivdennyi’ bank, which was considered a pocket bank at the time. The bank was linked to Hranovskyi’s business partner, Adamovsky,” the source adds.

The ‘Pivdennyi’ bank indeed figured in the case of the aforementioned ‘Sky Mall’ shopping center. Part of the property complex was transferred to it, which a businessman close to Hranovskyi attempted to reclaim with the help of lawyer Oleh Malinovskyi.

Until 2021, Yakiv Melnyk’s wife, Oksana, worked at the Kyiv Prosecutor’s Office, which was under the influence of MP Oleksandr Hranovskyi. Lawyers close to him were somehow connected through the office in the building on Bohomoltsia Street, where her mother worked.

Currently, Oksana Melnyk works as a lawyer and defends, for example, an official from the Department of Ecology and Natural Resources. It is likely that this refers to Maryna Tishchenkova, who is listed as a defendant in a court case. In 2020, Tishchenkova worked at the Environmental Assessment Department of the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Natural Resources and was noted for receiving over 50 corruption protocols.

Sources claim that the wealth and assets of Yakiv Melnyk, Deputy Head of the Investigative Department of the National Police in Kyiv, and his family are far greater than what is visible in his declarations. Since property rights registries remain closed, this can only be proven once they are reopened. However, the intertwining of well-known names in one building right under the nose of the Ministry of Internal Affairs gives reason to believe the information provided by sources—about the apartments, cryptocurrency wallets, and even cash in bank safety deposit boxes. Especially since the office on Bohomoltsia taught how to properly store cash so that, if needed, law enforcement wouldn’t find it—in an MP’s reception office within a fictitious financial institution.

Author: Olena Dobrodiy