Case description
The HACC has found Serhii Hafiichuk guilty of offering a bribe to Oleksandr Boiarskyi, a judge of the Bilhorod-Dnistrovskyi City District Court of Odesa Region.
According to the investigation, Hafiichuk intended to offer Judge Boiarskyi a bribe in exchange for a favorable decision in a case regarding the termination of parental rights and the awarding of child support.
While in the reception area of the judge’s office, Hafiichuk, through an intermediary, offered an unlawful benefit of $1,000 in exchange for a “proper” decision. Later that same day, he attempted to meet the judge in person, but the judge refused the meeting due to Hafiichuk’s previous deceit in another case.
Hafiichuk later developed a new intent — to offer a bribe for two rulings clarifying previous court decisions, which would serve as evidence of single-parent custody and facilitate travel abroad. He offered $600 ($300 per ruling) and an additional $1,000 for a favorable decision in a divorce and child support case. The judge refused to issue rulings without proper evidence.
Subsequently, Hafiichuk involved the judge’s assistant in facilitating the bribe. Together, they met with the judge, during which Hafiichuk indirectly suggested that the money had already been transferred. That same day, the assistant passed $1,000 — including $600 specifically for the clarification rulings — to a friend of the judge. Later, in a restroom conversation, the assistant confirmed that the transferred money was an unlawful benefit from Serhii Hafiichuk, as well as partially payment for unspecified services related to property matters.
As a result, Serhii Hafiichuk, in prior collusion with the judge’s assistant, provided an unlawful benefit of $600 to the judge in exchange for favorable court rulings.
Hafiichuk pleaded guilty and agreed to cooperate with the investigation. The HACC found him guilty under Article 369(3) of the Criminal Code of Ukraine and sentenced him to four years in prison, but released him from serving the sentence on probation for one year. He was also ordered to transfer UAH 90,840 to support the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Additionally, the court ordered the confiscation of the $600 illegal benefit.
