Prosecutor General Ruslan Riaboshapka, who has been in office for one month, on Oct. 1 made his first controversial step: He appointed Oleksandr Filchakov Kharkiv Oblast’s chief prosecutor.
Riaboshapka has announced a sweeping reform of the prosecution service and outlined plans to cleanse it of corrupt prosecutors. However, Filchakov’s appointment appears to run counter to those statements.
The Prosecutor General’s Office, Kharkiv Oblast’s prosecutor’s office and Filchakov did not respond to requests for comment.
Previously, Filchakov had worked as a lower-level prosecutor in Kharkiv Oblast.
In 2011, Kharkiv businessman Yury Skrypka claimed that Filchakov had extorted Hr 150,000 from him and other businessmen to buy a Skoda Octavia A5 car and then tried to extort another Hr 200,000 from him. The businessmen were required to donate money to a charity that then used it to buy a car and give it to Filchakov as a gift. The charity confirmed buying Filchakov a car but denied the accusations of wrongdoing.
When Skrypka reported the extortion, prosecutors opened an embezzlement case against him and held him in a detention facility for a month.
According to a 2013 story by television channel 1+1’s Groshi show, Filchakov also closed a case into Hr 3 million embezzlement during school repairs despite solid evidence and bought a new BMW X5 car after the closure.
According to the AutoMaidan anti-corruption watchdog’s PROSUD project, the assets of Filchakov and his wife Yulia, who is also a prosecutor, do not match their income. Their family own a house and an apartment in Kharkiv.
Previously, Riaboshapka earned praise from civil society for appointing reformist deputies Viktor Chumak and Vitaly Kasko and firing controversial deputy prosecutor generals Yury Stolyarchuk, Anzhela Stryzhevska, Serhiy Kiz and Dmytro Storozhuk.
