What acting director of the Kyiv Scientific Research Institute of Forensic Expertise, Maksym Kiselev, is known for

The National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) has completed a full review of the 2023 declaration submitted by Maksym Kiselev, the acting director of the Kyiv Scientific Research Institute of Forensic Expertise (KNDISE). 

Kiselev, formerly the head of the State Enforcement Service department under the Ministry of Justice, has found himself at the centre of a major scandal. The review revealed inaccurate data totalling more than 2.7 million hryvnia.

Specifically, Kiselev understated the area of his wife’s apartment in Kyiv (listing 77.6 sq m instead of the actual 82.3 sq m) and failed to reflect the market value of a dacha house in Obukhiv district (426,600 UAH), marking it as “unknown” despite the information being available in official registers. Furthermore, he declared income from cryptocurrency sales amounting to 2.7 million UAH, yet no confirmation of these transactions was received from either the Cyber Police or the company Nest Services Limited.

Cryptocurrency: millions in a virtual vacuum

Kiselev’s declaration includes a substantial list of cryptocurrency assets:

• 647,065 USDT worth 23.66 million UAH;

• 3,190 PALA tokens worth 233 UAH;

• 7,853 UTRON worth 23,789 UAH;

• 0.507 USDT worth 19 UAH.

However, no funds are present at the provided wallet addresses. According to the official report, the transactions were not recorded, and Kiselev himself claims to have been a victim of fraudsters who acted in his interest without his knowledge. He provided no evidence to support this claim.

Jewellery, a generator and car rental: other disputed items

The declaration also lists a generator allegedly purchased for cash in 2022 for 627,000 UAH, with no supporting documents. It also includes jewellery earrings from the brand PAMELLATO, valued at 134,690 UAH, purchased back in 2019. Ownership of these items could not be verified either.

In addition, Kiselev declared a financial obligation of 90,000 UAH for car rental, although under the law, amounts less than 50 subsistence minimums are not subject to mandatory declaration.

Formally not a crime, but not clean either

According to NABU, the violations fall under Article 366-2 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (declaration of inaccurate information). Although no signs of illegal enrichment or conflict of interest were detected, the lack of evidence renders Kiselev’s explanations untenable. The agency did not take seriously his arguments regarding “unjustified trust” and “deception by third parties”.

Family capital abroad: companies and real estate

Additional information has also emerged regarding the official’s family assets abroad. Kiselev’s wife, Oleksandra Horiieva, is reportedly, according to open-source data, the owner of the British company Hengestone Development LTD, with capital of nearly half a million dollars. Non-residential premises in Kyiv are registered under her name. She is also attributed ownership of the offshore company Ammilo Commerce Ltd, registered in the Seychelles.

How crypto and the Seychelles became the beginning of the story

Sources in law enforcement agencies have revealed an interesting backstory. On 5 May 2023, Kiselev filed a report with the Cyber Police, informing them of cryptocurrency theft. According to him, between June and December 2022, he invested approximately 700,000 dollars in virtual assets on the advice of an acquaintance couple – Oleg Hromov and Vita Yefimchuk.

Hromov allegedly helped set up a Ledger electronic wallet and may have had access to “seed phrases” – special code words for restoring access. Formally, only Kiselev himself and his wife had access to the wallet.

According to the official, the Kiselevs met Hromov and Yefimchuk in April 2021 on a plane while returning from holiday. Initially, Kiselev claimed he had been on holiday in Qatar, but later stated in an interrogation that he had been in the Seychelles.

Family in Spain, declaration in Ukraine

After the start of the full-scale war in February 2022, Kiselev remained in Ukraine, while his wife and relatives left the country on 25 February, officially for safety reasons. However, according to journalists, the family did not simply leave but purchased a luxury villa in Spain worth approximately 1.5 million euros. It is presumed that Oleksandra Horiieva currently resides there.

According to information from the detective agency ABSOLUTION