NABU suspects Ministry of Justice forensic experts of false valuation for SBU official's wife
Ukraine's anti-corruption bodies NABU and SAP have notified forensic experts from the Kyiv Scientific Research Institute of Forensic Expertise (KNDISE) of the Ministry of Justice that they are suspected of producing knowingly false conclusions about the market value of an elite apartment belonging to the wife of a senior Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) official. The case centers on an apartment bought for 21.6 million UAH whose contract value was recorded at 12.8 million UAH, and on a subsequent KNDISE expertise that valued it at 12.3 million UAH. NABU says the experts ignored a recall of their appointment and backdated the conclusion, using the case to push for an independent expert institute under its own authority.
Key points
- NABU and SAP notified KNDISE forensic experts of suspicion over conclusions about an apartment belonging to the wife of a senior SBU official.
- The apartment was bought in December 2023 for 21.6 million UAH; the purchase contract recorded 12.8 million UAH.
- In May 2024 a KNDISE commission valued the apartment at 12.3 million UAH — 9.3 million UAH below the actual price — using irrelevant comparable properties.
- The experts capped comparable values at USD 2,500–2,600 per square meter instead of the roughly USD 3,000 market rate and selected the cheapest listings from USD 1,550.
- On 11 November 2024 NABU detectives recalled the appointment and asked the institute to return the materials unexecuted; the experts continued the work and backdated the final conclusion to 8 November 2024.
- The defense used the expertise as evidence in proceedings involving NACP (NAZK), NABU and the courts.
- NABU says the alleged scheme would be impossible if an independent expert institution under NABU existed, and is using the case to argue for one.
Why it matters
The suspicion strikes at the credibility of a state forensic institution under the Ministry of Justice that supplies evidence across Ukraine's justice system, and it links NABU's work directly to a senior SBU official's family. NABU is using the case to publicly argue for an expert institution under its own control as a way to insulate forensic work from alleged external pressure.
What happened
NABU and SAP have notified forensic experts of the Kyiv Scientific Research Institute of Forensic Expertise (KNDISE), part of the Ministry of Justice, that they are suspected of drawing up knowingly false conclusions about the market value of an elite apartment owned by the wife of a senior SBU official. The apartment was purchased in December 2023 for 21.6 million UAH, while the contract recorded 12.8 million UAH. In May 2024 a KNDISE commission concluded the market value was 12.3 million UAH — 9.3 million UAH below the actual price — by using irrelevant comparable properties and capping values at USD 2,500–2,600 per square meter instead of the roughly USD 3,000 market rate, choosing the lowest listings from USD 1,550 and ignoring other analogues.
On 11 November 2024 NABU detectives, who were investigating the apartment purchase, recalled a commission expertise they had appointed in the case and asked the institute to return the materials unexecuted. According to NABU, the KNDISE experts ignored the recall, continued the study, and in early December 2024 signed the conclusion while backdating it to 8 November 2024, before NABU withdrew the appointment. A copy of the conclusion reached the detectives not from the institute but from the lawyer of the suspected official. NABU has used the case to repeat its long-standing argument that an independent expert institution under NABU is essential.
How Ukrainian sources describe it
The available reporting is entirely from Ukrainian outlets and tracks NABU's own communications. The coverage places the Ministry of Justice's KNDISE at the center of the suspicion and presents NABU's investigators as the authority uncovering the alleged manipulation. NABU's institutional position — that a dedicated expert institution under its control would prevent such cases — is reported as part of the news, not as outside commentary. No international outlets are cited in the source set.
Background
In December 2023 the wife of a senior SBU official bought an apartment for 21.6 million UAH, with the contract value recorded at 12.8 million UAH. In April 2024 a lawyer for the couple commissioned a construction-appraisal expertise at KNDISE. In May 2024 KNDISE experts valued the apartment at 12.3 million UAH — 9.3 million UAH below the actual price — using irrelevant comparable properties, capping values at USD 2,500–2,600 per square meter instead of the roughly USD 3,000 market rate, and selecting the cheapest listings from USD 1,550. On 11 November 2024 NABU detectives, who had their own commission expertise running in the case, recalled the appointment and asked the institute to return the materials unexecuted. The KNDISE experts reportedly ignored the recall, finalized the conclusion in early December 2024 and backdated it to 8 November 2024, before the recall; the document reached NABU through the suspect's lawyer rather than from the institute.