Ukraine Detains Supreme Court Chief in Graft Probe
(Bloomberg) -- Ukraine’s Supreme Court chief was detained by police and ousted from his post in a no-confidence vote after investigators said they had uncovered “large-scale corruption” in the nation’s highest judicial body.
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Court Chairman Vsevolod Knyazev was detained on suspicion of taking a $2.7 million (2.5 million euro) bribe, the head of the National Anti-Corruption Bureau said Tuesday. At an emergency meeting of the court, his dismissal was backed by 140 judges, according to a statement on the court’s website.
“Top Supreme court officials were caught red-handed,” bureau chief Semen Kryvonos said Tuesday. “During a search, a significant sum of money was confiscated and proof was found.”
Knyazev wasn’t immediately reachable for comment. The court, comprising five separate bodies and as many as 200 judges, voted on his ouster at an extraordinary meeting to discuss NABU’s accusations.
“Judges of the Supreme Court are shocked,” said Dmytro Luspenchyk, the secretary of the meeting. “Corrupt acts at any court, especially at the Supreme Court, damage the reputation of and trust in the court, ruining its authority. It’s a black day in the court’s history.”
President Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s government is under increasing pressure to root out graft as it seeks support in its efforts to expel invading Russian forces and to join the European Union and NATO.
Although the country has been reforming its court system since 2014 after massive street rallies toppled the government of pro-Russian President Viktor Yanukovych, corruption that became entrenched after the collapse of the Soviet Union persists.
On Monday, authorities said tycoon Dmitry Firtash and managers at firms under his control had been notified that they are suspects in an embezzlement scheme that caused the state losses of 4.2 billion hryvnia ($115 million) in 2021 alone. Firtash’s company, Group DF, denied the allegations.
In another case, Ukrainian oligarch Pavlo Fuks, who made his fortune in oil trading, banking and real estate development, was handed a notice of suspicion for tax evasion, the Security Service of Ukraine said on its website. Fuks said on Telegram that the allegations were “baseless.”
Kryvonos said investigators in the Supreme Court case had identified ties between Chairman Knyazev and the owner of Bank Finance and Credit Group, which allegedly paid a bribe to court officials to influence a ruling. Another official who wasn’t named was also being held, although neither has been charged, he said.
The owner of Bank Finance and Credit Group, Kostyantin Zhevago, is also under suspicion of alleged fraud, which he denies. Zhevago’s press office said any information about his involvement in the bribe case at the Supreme Court is false.
Knyazev, the Supreme Court chief, and his alleged accomplice were handed notices of suspicion in the evening on Tuesday, news service Interfax reported citing special anti-graft prosecutors.
“We put an end to the operation of a scheme in which its prime participants sought to impact many decisions in the judiciary,” Oleksandr Klymenko, the head of the special anti-corruption prosecutors office, said.
Allies have urged Ukraine to move forward with reforms in exchange for financial support and stronger ties. Zelenskiy wants to start talks by the end of the year on joining the EU, but Ukraine first needs to fulfill several requirements, mostly related to tackling corruption.
Ukraine was ranked 116th out of 180 countries globally in Transparency International’s Global Corruption Perceptions Index last year alongside Algeria and El Salvador.
--With assistance from Daryna Krasnolutska and Stephanie Baker.
(Updates with notices of suspicion handed to the judge and alleged accomplice in 12th paragraph.)
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