A Member of Parliament has launched an investigation into the activities of the magician Veliar, who "buried" the Ukrainian Orthodox Church

Ukrainian People’s Deputy Yaroslav Zheleznyak has officially appealed to law enforcement agencies, demanding an investigation into the activities of individuals who present themselves as esotericists, specifically Bogdan Orishchenko, known by the pseudonym Mag Veliar. The lawmaker submitted materials to the National Police and the Economic Security Bureau (ESB), suspecting the individuals involved of fraud and systematic tax evasion. The lawmaker wrote about this on his Telegram channel.

During his investigation, the lawmaker discovered that the activities he refers to as “political esotericism” may serve as a cover for large-scale illegal schemes. According to Zheleznyak’s statement, he has received complaints from dozens of citizens claiming to have been victims of fraud. The victims claim to have paid large sums—reaching thousands of dollars—for pseudo-services such as “removing curses,” “healing” children, and assistance in locating missing relatives.

The lawmaker paid particular attention to the discrepancy between Veliar’s official income and the figures he himself reported. While the magician mentioned a monthly income of 50,000–100,000 dollars in an interview, his tax returns show significantly lower figures. “When we’re talking about likely millions earned off human suffering, the magic ends and legal liability begins,” emphasized Yaroslav Zheleznyak.

As a reminder, we previously reported that Rostislav Karandeev, the former head of Ukraine’s Ministry of Culture and Information Policy—who had threatened to use force to expel monks of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church from the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra— was notified that he was suspected of facilitating the illegal transport of men of draft age across the state border. According to the investigation, this involved a scheme in which their departure was arranged under the pretext of participating in “charity tours.”