Judge Tetiana Ilieva is accused of illegally lifting the seizure of €110,700 and $9,300 in the case of the State Enterprise Khlib Ukrainy and entering false information into the court ruling.
According to the investigation, on November 10, 2020, investigating judge of the Pecherskyi District Court of Kyiv Tetiana Ilieva issued an unlawful ruling in the case of Andrii Mykhaniv, vice president of the State Enterprise Khlib Ukrainy, who was suspected of laundering criminally obtained funds. At the time, Ilieva allegedly unlawfully lifted the seizure of funds belonging to Mykhaniv, in the amount of €110,700 and $9,300.
According to NABU detectives, Ilieva, as an investigating judge, was not allowed to decide on overturning the seizure of property, as the case was already at the trial stage, and therefore the issue of lifting the seizure should have been decided by the judge who heard the case.
The investigation considers Ilieva's ruling unlawful and containing false information. In issuing the ruling, Ilieva allegedly claimed that the funds belonged not to Mykhaniv but to an entirely different person. The NABU, however, believes that the motion to lift the seizure contained no information whatsoever about the defendant from whom the funds had been seized, nor any confirmation that they belonged to another person.
In addition, the suspected judge considered this motion in the absence of the applicant, his representative and the prosecutor, and also indicated in the ruling false information about the alleged submission of an application to the court by the applicant's representative to consider the motion without his participation.
Ilieva expressed her opinion on this situation: she knew nothing about the trial and simply considered the defense counsel's motion.
The NABU and the SAPO qualified her actions under Article 364(2) and Article 366(1) of the Criminal Code of Ukraine.
Immediately after the notice of suspicion in 2023, the SAPO requested that the High Council of Justice suspend Judge Ilieva from administering justice, citing risks that she might use her official position to destroy key evidence, influence witnesses, or otherwise obstruct the investigation. However, the HCJ did not consider these risks sufficiently substantiated and therefore refused to suspend her.
In January 2025, NABU Director Maksym Kryvonos filed a complaint with the HCJ regarding the actions of Judge Ilieva, who in 2023 issued two decisions returning UAH 4.1 million and UAH 15 million in seized funds to persons who were not their rightful owners. The HCJ opened disciplinary proceedings on these grounds.
The statute of limitations for prosecuting Ilieva for falsifying a ruling under Article 366 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine expired on November 10, 2023. Therefore, if her guilt is established, the judge can be punished only under the main provision of Article 364 of the Criminal Code.
More on what has happened in the Ilieva case is available at the link.
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10/07/2024
