The HACC found former Supreme Court Chairman Vsevolod Kniaziev guilty of organizing a scheme to collect bribes in exchange for court rulings.
In May 2023, NABU detectives caught Kniaziev accepting a $2.7 million bribe. According to the investigation, Kniaziev, in conspiracy with notary Kyrylo Horburov and lawyer Oleh Horetskyi, organized a scheme to obtain bribes for securing the desired court rulings. Horburov sought out clients, while Horetskyi negotiated with Kniaziev, who in turn arranged matters with Supreme Court judges.
The investigation alleges that Kniaziev coordinated the group's activities, vetted the proposed “clients,” set the amounts and the manner of distributing the bribes, took receipt of the cash, and passed it on to the judges. Oleh Horetskyi, acting under the cover of his legal practice, sought out persons willing to pay a bribe, collected the funds from them, created cover documents (contracts), stored the money in his office and a bank safe deposit box, and passed it to Horburov. Kyrylo Horburov introduced clients to Horetskyi, assisted in collecting and transferring the bribes, and personally delivered the cash to Kniaziev.
In particular, the scheme operated for the benefit of oligarch Kostiantyn Zhevaho. In January 2023, Zhevaho's representatives asked Horetskyi to help secure the necessary court ruling in the case concerning the Poltava Mining and Processing Plant, which belongs to the oligarch. Acting through his company's security director, Zhevaho established contact with Horetskyi, who was believed to have close ties to Kniaziev. The agreed sum was set at $2.7 million, of which $1.8 million was for Kniaziev and the judges, and $900,000 was for Horetskyi and Horburov.
In the end, the Grand Chamber of the Supreme Court granted the cassation appeals filed by Zhevaho's representatives, and members of the criminal organization received the first tranche. The second portion was then handed over, and it was this transfer that the NABU and SAPO caught in the act.
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During the hearings, the defense and Kniaziev himself argued that, while he was under surveillance, the investigation had interfered with his private life. In the defense's view, the records of the covert investigative actions had been drawn up with violations, so the resulting evidence should be ruled inadmissible.
Vsevolod Kniaziev is charged under Article 368(4) of the Criminal Code of Ukraine.
The HACC found him guilty and approved a plea agreement. Kniaziev fully admitted his guilt and agreed to give incriminating testimony against his accomplices. He was sentenced to five years' imprisonment, together with a three-year ban on holding positions in judicial and law enforcement bodies. The court also ordered the confiscation of:
● an apartment and a house in Mykolaiv;
● UAH 32,000;
● €1,700;
● $201,000.
Special confiscation was applied to the $1.248 million that constituted the unlawful benefit.
Kniaziev must also transfer funds totaling $1.1 million in support of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
The agreement became possible after Kniaziev provided incriminating testimony. On the basis of that testimony, law enforcement served notices of suspicion on other persons involved in the case. According to the investigation, Grand Chamber judge Zhanna Yelenina, Supreme Court judges Iryna Hryhorieva and Ihor Zhelieznyi, and retired judge Oleksandr Prokopenko accepted unlawful benefits in exchange for ruling in Zhevaho's interests.
Since February 2024, he has been suspended from the administration of justice until the verdict of the Anti-Corruption Court comes into force or the case against the judge is closed. Even earlier, almost immediately after being served with the suspicion, the Supreme Court Plenum removed him from the post of court chairman.
Administrative proceedings were also initiated against Kniaziev. During the search, the judge was found to have a contract under which he rented a 4-room apartment in Kyiv for UAH 1,000. The court regarded UAH 906,000 underpaid to the market value as an illegally received gift, which could not be seized. Therefore, the assets of Kniaziev and his ex-wife were seized. In 2023, in connection with this case, the court found Kniaziev guilty, imposed a fine of UAH 2,550, and ordered the confiscation of the unlawful gift.
After that, the NACP reported to the High Council of Justice, which subsequently opened a disciplinary case. The HCJ resolved to hold Vsevolod Kniaziev disciplinarily liable and to dismiss him from the position of Supreme Court judge. In December 2024, the Grand Chamber of the Supreme Court upheld that decision, which marked the final stage of the disciplinary proceedings against Kniaziev.
Lawyer Oleh Horetskyi has already entered a plea agreement — for offering a bribe to an official and for fraud. As a result of the court's verdict, Horetskyi was exempted from serving 5 years in prison and was assigned probation for 3 years.
Kyrylo Horburov, by contrast, was not even served with a notice of suspicion. Kniaziev's defense attorney stated that Horburov was a NABU agent and actually provoked the crime in the interests of the NABU.
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04/03/2024
829 days
Imprisonment
