The Chairman of the Supreme Court of Ukraine Vsevolod Knyazev was detained for a $2,7 million bribe. About this reported in NABU on May 15.
The Supreme Court of Ukraine is the last cassation instance, the highest court of the country, capable of overturning the decisions of courts of all instances. Decisions of the Supreme Court of Ukraine are final and not subject to appeal.
"Illegal benefit in the amount of 2.7 million US dollars for the President of the Supreme Court and a lawyer may be part of a wider scheme of corrupt pressure on the courts", — stated at a joint briefing, Head of SAP Oleksandr Klymenko and Director of NABU Semyon Krivonos on May 16, 2023.
Investigative actions are currently underway, the purpose of which is to identify both all those involved in a specific episode, as well as the activities of the criminal group as a whole. According to the head of the SAP Oleksandr Klymenko, this criminal scheme could affect other courts of Ukraine, so it was important to stop it here and now.
Previous legal qualification - part 4 of article 368 part 4 of article 369 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine. The issue of reporting suspicion is being resolved.
According to NABU and SAP reports, a large-scale corruption scheme was exposed in particular thanks to a detective who worked undercover. The investigation recorded the contacts of representatives of the "Finance and Credit" group (beneficiary - Kostyantyn Zhevago) with the lawyer of one of the legal associations.
"They agreed on the transfer of an illegal benefit to one of the highest officials of the court in order to make a decision favorable to one of the entrepreneurs." - stated at the briefing.
The first court session in the case was supposed to take place on March 15, but it was postponed by agreement "to accumulate funds", which were transferred to the lawyer. And already on April 19, the "correct" court decision was passed, and at the beginning of May, the leadership of the Supreme Court gave an instruction on the distribution of bribes among other judges. On May 15rd, the first part of the bribe was handed over, on May XNUMXth - the second part, and it was on this part that the head of the Supreme Court, Vsevolod Knyazev, was "taken".
The decision, which was issued by the Supreme Court on April 19, 2023, related to the annulment of the decision of the Northern Commercial Court of Appeal to invalidate the 2002 contract on the sale of 40,19% of the shares of the Poltava Mining and Processing Plant Ferrexpo to four companies - former shareholders of the enterprise. This plant was one of the main assets of Konstantin Zhevago and the most attractive from the point of view of investment. For 20 years, Kostyantyn Zhevago's company has been suing for ownership of the enterprise.
"After receiving information about the existence of a criminal group in the sphere of the judicial branch of government and its top management, detectives of the bureau implemented an undercover operation. Thanks to the prompt penetration into the criminal group, it was possible to expose and document a number of episodes of the criminal organization's activity", - it is said in message NABU and SAP.
As a result of the complex of operational and technical measures carried out, NABU obtained information about the contacts of the businessman-owner of the "Finance and Credit" group Kostyantyn Zhevago with one of the lawyers-leaders of the bar association. During the investigation, it became clear that the bar association was used to mask criminal activity. Under the guise of attorney services and legal support, the members of the group agreed with judges to make decisions in the interests of their "clients" for a certain "reward". The lawyer acted as an intermediary in the transfer of the bribe.
During urgent investigative actions, part of the object of the crime — money — was seized, including during the search of the main suspect — Vsevolod Knyazev and other members of the criminal group.
Vsevolod Serhiyevich Knyazev (43 years old) holds the post of Supreme Judge of Ukraine since December 1, 2021, is a member of the High Council of Justice and a judge of the Grand Chamber of the Supreme Court. Vsevolod Knyazev's salary was from 670 hryvnias per month.
Born in Mykolaiv, graduated from Odesa National Law Academy. Doctor of legal sciences, professor. In 2013, he started working as a judge of the Mykolaiv District Administrative Court, and in 2015 he became the head of this court. After the 2016 reform, Vsevolod Knyazev became a judge of the Cassation Administrative Court of the Supreme Court. On December 12, 2017, Vsevolod Knyazeva was elected secretary of the Grand Chamber of the Supreme Court.
On October 22, 2021, the Plenum of the Supreme Court elected Knyazev as the new head of this institution by secret ballot.
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