Case description
The HACC found former Odesa tax officials Natalia Chebotariova and Volodymyr Mosiichuk guilty of offering a bribe to the head of the Odesa Prosecutor's Office. The defendants were sentenced to 6 and 5 years in prison, respectively; the decision will be reviewed in the appellate instance.
The investigation established that the former acting head of the Odesa Regional State Tax Service Chebotariova, together with her deputy Volodymyr Mosiichuk, offered a fixed amount USD 25,000 per month to Mykhailo Serbin, head of the Odesa Regional Prosecutor's Office. In this way, they wanted the prosecutor's office to “turn a blind eye” on corruption in the State Tax Service and not to bring tax officials to justice.
Chebotariova and Mosiichuk were charged with Article 369, part 3 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine. The tax official was sentenced to 6 years in prison with confiscation of property and a ban on holding certain positions for 3 years. Her deputy was sentenced to 5 years in prison with identical additional penalties.
The defense filed a number of appeals against the court's decision.
