Almost 1.2 million UAH, seized during a search from a Kyiv resident, disappeared during the pre-trial investigation. The Supreme Court explained why the state must still compensate the owner for the lost funds.
![Investigators "lost" almost 1.2 million UAH after the search](/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/51779285cfaff9f05961dc8dc9e7c6f1.jpg "Investigators "lost" almost 1.2 million UAH after the search")
Investigators “lost” almost 1.2 million UAH after the search / © Getty Images
The loss of money seized during a search does not absolve the state of its obligation to return it to the owner. This conclusion was reached by the Supreme Court in case No. 752/29491/21, which put an end to a long legal dispute between a Kyiv resident and law enforcement officers.
The case was reported by “Sudovo-yurydychna hazeta.”
The state will compensate nearly 1.2 million UAH for material evidence “lost” by investigators
The story began in August 2019. During a search at the woman’s residence, investigators seized a considerable sum: 20,240 US dollars, 2,120 euros, 211,600 hryvnias, and documents. Subsequently, this property was seized.
After two years, the court determined that there were no grounds for further restriction of ownership rights and canceled the seizure. The woman, through her lawyer, approached the investigator for her money, but it turned out to be impossible to recover it.
An official investigation revealed a detail: the seized funds disappeared during the pre-trial investigation. The investigator simply failed to transfer them for safekeeping to an authorized bank, as required by law. As a result of improper performance of duties, nearly 1.2 million UAH in equivalent value vanished without a trace.
Since the money no longer physically existed as material evidence, the owner filed a lawsuit for compensation of property damages.
The courts of first and appellate instances sided with the plaintiff. However, in October 2024, the National Police Main Directorate in Kyiv Oblast filed a cassation appeal with the Supreme Court, demanding the cancellation of previous decisions and refusal of compensation.
The Civil Cassation Court within the Supreme Court denied the appeal, upholding the decisions of the lower instances.
The court provided several key conclusions regarding the investigators “losing” the seized funds of the Kyiv resident. The first is that the search was conducted based on a court order does not exempt the pre-trial investigation body from the duty to ensure property preservation.
Second, three conditions are sufficient for the state to pay compensation: the illegality of the body’s actions or inaction, the presence of damage, and a causal link between them. Proving the guilt of a specific investigator is not mandatory.
The court rejected the police’s demand for a separate judicial act to recognize the investigator’s actions as illegal, as the fact of the violation had already been established by an internal investigation.
The court also ruled that paying civil compensation to the owner does not preclude the search for those responsible for the disappearance of the money and their criminal prosecution. According to the decision of the Civil Cassation Court, the state must pay the damages for the lost money to the woman from the budget.
Corruption: Latest News
As a reminder, the head of logistics for one of the training units of the Armed Forces of Ukraine was sentenced to 10 years in prison, with deprivation of the military rank of “major,” for stealing food for military personnel.
According to the Office of the Prosecutor General, from June 2024 to January 2025, 59 episodes of removal and sale of products written off according to documents – meat, cereals, sugar, etc. – to civilians were recorded, causing state losses of about 500,000 hryvnias.
The official was exposed in January 2025 and found guilty of appropriating military property under martial law. The case of the canteen manager, who was his accomplice, is currently pending in court.
Law enforcement officers did not name the exact military unit, but the involvement of the Desna Specialized Prosecutor’s Office and the police of the Chernihiv region indicates probable involvement with the “Desna” training center.
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