Ukrainian official could not confirm ownership of declared 77 BTC

The head of the State Regulatory Service (GRS) of Ukraine, Alexey Kucher, could not confirm ownership of the bitcoins he listed in the declaration. This was reported by the National Agency on the Prevention of Corruption (NAPC).

The declaration in question was filed by Kucher in December last year, when he left the post of head of Kharkiv regional administration. In it he stated that he owned 77 BTC, worth about 13.1 million hryvnias at the time of purchase.

«There is a public address for Bitcoin proving ownership by a specific person. The head of the GRS could not provide it», — said at the NAPC.

At the same time, according to the tax authorities, the total income of Kucher and his family over all his work from 2001 to 2020 amounted to less than 1 million hryvnias. The agency says this indicates that Kucher provided false information about cryptocurrency ownership.

Head of the NAPC, Alexander Novikov, issued a directive to the Cabinet of Ukraine demanding a formal investigation and that Kucher face disciplinary action.

In 2020, Ukrainian officials declared a total of more than 46,000 BTC. In April, the NAPC said that it would verify the declared cryptocurrency.

The Public Union “Virtual Assets of Ukraine” and the inter-factional association of deputies Blockchain4Ukraine proposed to the head of the NAPC to include in the declaration the addresses of non-custodial cryptocurrency wallets where digital assets are stored, and verification data of custodial wallet owners.

On 15 April, the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine approved in the first reading a bill that reinstates criminal liability for false declarations by officials.

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