The HACC found Hennadii Moliboha, head of the Druzhkivka City Court, and Vasyl Yahupets, a prosecutor of the Kramatorsk Local Prosecutor's Office, guilty of extorting and receiving a bribe. They were sentenced to 7.5 and 4.5 years' imprisonment respectively.

According to the prosecution, in December 2017 Vasyl Yahupets, a prosecutor of the Kramatorsk Local Prosecutor's Office, approached Hennadii Moliboha, head of the Druzhkivka City Court, with a request not to hold a person detained for drunk driving administratively liable.

Yahupets came to Judge Moliboha's office as soon as he learned that the judge was hearing the case of a person he did not know personally but knew through acquaintances. On the pretext of “reviewing the file,” the prosecutor explained that the offender did not want to be left without his driver's license, so it was crucial that the court not strip him of his driving privileges.

The judge responded to the request and invited the prosecutor to share his “ideas” on how to settle the matter in such a way that his judicial ruling would not take away the offender's driver's license, adding that he would consider any proposal. Yahupets obliquely offered Moliboha a bribe in whatever amount he named.

Moliboha agreed to this offer and held up five fingers of his right hand, hinting that he wanted five thousand hryvnias. Yahupets conveyed this to the offending driver and afterwards informed Moliboha that the man was ready to pay the bribe. The judge wanted to receive the money the day before the hearing, that is, on December 11, 2017.

On the morning of December 11, the prosecutor met with Moliboha to discuss the offending driver's fate. The investigation recorded them planning a scheme to evade liability. This concerned not only keeping his license but also preparing the “right” testimony: the prosecutor and the judge agreed on exactly what the man should say at the hearing so that the judge could lawfully rule in his favor.

A few hours later, Yahupets again came to Moliboha's office and handed him a bribe of UAH 5,000 in exchange for not holding the person administratively liable and not stripping him of his driver's license. Having received the money, Moliboha put it in his desk drawer, and after the meeting ended he counted it and put it in his bag.

The money was later seized by investigators. In addition, while investigating other criminal proceedings, NABU detectives discovered that for several years the judge had not declared the cars he had purchased and was using.

Hennadii Moliboha's actions were classified under Article 368(3) of the Criminal Code of Ukraine, and Vasyl Yahupets's under Article 369(3).

The HACC found the defendants guilty and sentenced Hennadii Moliboha to 7.5 years and Vasyl Yahupets to 4.5 years in prison. The court also confiscated Moliboha's property and banned him from holding positions in state authorities for two years.

The HACC Appeals Chamber reviewed the HACC's verdict and partially granted the appeals. It amended the verdict only as regards the recovery from the defendants of the procedural costs of engaging experts. The HACC had ordered UAH 39,710.60 to be recovered from both defendants jointly and severally. On those terms, the entire sum could have been recovered from either one of them, or from both in any proportion. The HACC Appeals Chamber cancelled the joint and several liability and split the sum in half, so that each must now pay exactly UAH 19,855.30 individually.

In all other respects, the appeals were dismissed and the verdict left unchanged.

Hennadii Moliboha's defense counsel filed a cassation appeal seeking review of the court decisions in cassation; the case is currently under review by the Criminal Cassation Court of the Supreme Court.