Case description
The HACC found Vitalii Hovorukha and Olena Zubko guilty of aiding and abetting the bribery of an official. They pleaded guilty and received probationary terms of 1 and 2 years, respectively and were assigned certain duties.
Hovorukha and Zubko acted in a prior conspiracy with other persons to exclude Ocean Foods LLC from the list of risky taxpayers. This status practically ceased the economic activity of the enterprise.
It all started with the fact that on January 18, 2024, by the decision of the commission on the suspension of registration of the tax invoice by the Main Directorate of the State Tax Service in the Kharkiv region, Ocean Foods LLC was included in the list of payers that met the risk criteria. This meant the blocking of tax invoices, which could significantly affect the company's activities.
Then the representative of the company turned to Olena Zubko to help exclude the company from the list. The latter, not having such powers, engaged Vitalii Hovorukha. He offered a bribe to his acquaintance, the head of a department of the Main Directorate of the State Tax Service in the Kharkiv region.
The commission adopted the favorable decision, and everyone involved received a USD 55,000 bribe. The suspects were detained after searches were conducted and illegally obtained funds were seized. During the investigation, Hovorukha and Zubko admitted their guilt and cooperated with the investigation, which became the basis for concluding a plea agreement.
The actions of Vitalii Hovorukha and Olena Zubko were qualified under Art. 27(5), Art. 369(3) of the Criminal Code of Ukraine. They concluded plea agreements, so instead of 5 years in prison, Hovorukha was sentenced to a one-year probationary term, while Zubko was sentenced to 2 years of probation.
