Search

Case of Roman Mahuta, former head of the Accounting Chamber, on fraud in the privatization of official housing

  • Date of commencement of the case: 05/11/2019
Track case progress If you would like to follow the case, leave your email and get updates sent straight to your inbox
Case of Roman Mahuta, former head of the Accounting Chamber, on fraud in the privatization of official housing Case of Roman Mahuta, former head of the Accounting Chamber, on fraud in the privatization of official housing

Case description

On April 6, 2023, the HACC acquitted Roman Mahuta, former head of the Accounting Chamber, Mariia Shulezhko, the former chief controller of the agency, and Maksym Shulezhko, her nephew. They were accused of seizing official housing. 

Roman Mahuta headed the Accounting Chamber from 2012to 2018. Mariia Shulezhko is a former MP and started working at the Accounting Chamber in 1998. In 2004, she was appointed Chief Controller of the Department of Agricultural Affairs and worked there until 2018. Maksym Shulezhko, the third defendant in the case, is her nephew.

In March 2014, having already had a privatized office apartment as a former MP, Shulezhko applied for another apartment. She claimed that she lived with her husband, two daughters, and son-in-law in a two-room apartment (which had already been transferred to her daughter). 

Mahuta, the head of the Council of Ministers, issued an order and granted her request due to the need to live near her workplace, as Shulezhko “performed extremely important state tasks and had irregular working hours.” Shortly before that, the Accounting Chamber had purchased this apartment for UAH 1.39 million.

According to the Law on Privatization of the State Housing Fund, apartments that were classified as service apartments were not subject to privatization, but in October 2014, upon Mahuta's initiative, this apartment was excluded from the service category. After that, it became an ordinary state-owned apartment, which theoretically every Ukrainian citizen who lived there permanently had the right to privatize free of charge. 

However, this rule did not apply to Mariia Shulezhko and her family members, as they had already used this right once, when Shulezhko privatized an official apartment. To circumvent the restrictions, Shulezhko registered her nephew Maksym Shulezhko from the Cherkasy region in the newly acquired apartment. Mahuta gave him permission to privatize state-owned housing, and in January 2015, the property was transferred out of state ownership free of charge. Then his nephew gave the apartment to Shulezhko.

The actions of Mahuta, Shulezhko, and her nephew were classified under Article 191, part 5 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine, but the HACC found no crime in their actions. So everyone was acquitted.

  • Proceeding No.: 42016000000001701
  • Case No.: 761/8517/17
  • Incriminated: Article 191, part 5, Article 364, part 2
Instance Key parties Instance /Key parties:
HACC AC
16/05/2023

Panel of judges: Pankulych V.I.

CCC
15/01/2021

Panel of judges: Chystyk A.O., Borodii V.M., Mazur M.V.

HACC AC
23/10/2020

Panel of judges: Hlotov M.S., Kaluhina I.O., Chornenka D.S.

Lawyer: Popovchenka O.I.

Prosecutor: Kozachyna S.S.

CCC
24/06/2020

Panel of judges: Storozhenko S.O., Vus S.M., Yeremeichuk S.V.

Lawyer: Popovycha O.I.

HACC
05/11/2019

Panel of judges: Halabala M.V., Kryklyvyi V.V., Nohachevskyi V.V.

Lawyer: Horbovoho V.A., Diachenka V.V., Morhuna V.I., Popovchenka O.I., Prokopchuka O.M.

Prosecutor: Posvystak O.M.

Infographics

THE CASE OF ROMAN MAHUTA

The HACC acquitted Roman Mahuta, former head of the Accounting Chamber, former MP Mariia Shulezhko, and her nephew. They were accused of taking possession of an official apartment using legal loopholes.

  • March 6, 2014
    Shulezhko applied for housing
  • March 18, 2014
    Mahuta provided Shulezhko with a new office apartment in Kyiv
  • August 11, 2014
    Shulezhko asked to exclude the apartment from the list of official apartments for further privatization
  • October–December 2014
    Shulezhko registered her nephew in the apartment so that he would later privatize the service housing and transfer it to her
  • March 5, 2015
    Shulezhko's nephew transferred ownership of an already privatized apartment to the former official on the basis of a gift agreement
  • pic
    November 16, 2016
    Prosecutor General Lutsenko signed a suspicion notice on abuse of office regarding Mahuta
  • November 18, 2016
    the court imposed house arrest on Mahuta. He was later removed from his position in the Accounting Chamber
  • pic
    April 6, 2023
    the HACC acquitted Mahuta and Shulezhko due to the absence of corpus delicti in their actions

Decisions from the Register

Case No. Court Decision date Decision type
761/8517/17 HACC 05/11/2019 On the appointment of a preparatory court hearing
761/8517/17 HACC 05/12/2019
761/8517/17 HACC 05/12/2019 On the appointment of a trial
761/8517/17 HACC 26/03/2020
761/8517/17 HACC AC 07/04/2020 On the return of the appeal
761/8517/17 CCC 24/06/2020 On the opening of cassation proceedings
761/8517/17 CCC 24/06/2020
761/8517/17 CCC 14/07/2020 On the completion of preparation and appointment of the cassation hearing
761/8517/17 CCC 07/10/2020 Resolution on partial granting of cassation appeals and the appointment of a new hearing in the court of the first or appellate instance
761/8517/17 HACC AC 23/10/2020 Opening of appeal proceedings
761/8517/17 HACC AC 03/11/2020
761/8517/17 HACC AC 10/11/2020
761/8517/17 HACC AC 10/11/2020
761/8517/17 HACC AC 10/11/2020
761/8517/17 CCC 15/01/2021 On the refusal to open cassation proceedings
761/8517/17 HACC 04/11/2021
761/8517/17 HACC 04/11/2021
761/8517/17 HACC 19/05/2022 Decision on the implementation of remote court proceedings
761/8517/17 HACC 29/07/2022
761/8517/17 HACC 17/08/2022 Decision on the implementation of remote court proceedings
761/8517/17 HACC 19/08/2022
761/8517/17 HACC 04/10/2022
761/8517/17 HACC 06/04/2023 Verdicts
761/8517/17 HACC 06/04/2023 Separate opinion of the HACC judge
761/8517/17 HACC AC 16/05/2023 Opening of appeal proceedings
761/8517/17 HACC AC 07/06/2023 Completion of the preparation and appointment of the appeal hearing
761/8517/17 HACC AC 27/11/2023 On non-granting of the appeal and leaving the verdict unchanged
761/8517/17 HACC AC 27/11/2023 On non-granting of the appeal and leaving the verdict unchanged
761/8517/17 CCC 27/03/2024