The High Anti-Corruption Court approved the agreement between the prosecutor and the lawyer, Oleg Goretsky, who, along with the former head of the Supreme Court, Knyazev, was caught receiving an unlawful benefit of $2.7 million USD.
This information is reported by the SAP press service.
It is noted that on October 12, the panel of judges of the High Anti-Corruption Court approved the guilty plea agreement concluded between the SAP prosecutor and the lawyer, who, along with the former head of the Supreme Court, was exposed by the SAP and NABU for receiving an unlawful benefit of $2.7 million USD.
According to the agreement, the court found Goretsky guilty of aiding in offering an unlawful benefit to a public official holding a special position and providing such a benefit in the interests of the person offering it and in the interests of a third party for any action using the authority and official position granted to them, i.e., committing a criminal offense under Part 5 of Article 27, Part 4 of Article 369 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine, and fraud under Part 4 of Article 190 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine.
The court sentenced the lawyer to 5 years of imprisonment without confiscation of property. At the same time, the court exempted Goretsky from serving the imposed sentence with a probation period of 3 years. Under the terms of the agreement, the defendant is obliged to cooperate with the prosecution and provide incriminating testimony, as well as transfer 21 million hryvnias to a special account in the United 24 Fund for a joint project of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, State Special Communications, and the Ministry of Digital Transformation, known as the “Drone Army”.
The funds seized during the investigation, amounting to approximately 29 million hryvnias, will also be transferred to support the Armed Forces of Ukraine. In addition, $350,000 USD is subject to special confiscation.
Course of the Case:
On May 16, the Plenum of the Supreme Court expressed distrust in Vsevolod Knyazev. However, Knyazev, who was detained in a bribery case, still remained a judge.
Then, the former head of the Supreme Court, Knyazev, was informed of the suspicion. The following day, the defense of Vsevolod Knyazev, who is suspected of receiving a $2.7 million bribe, challenged his detention.
However, the High Council of Justice authorized the detention of Knyazev. In June, NABU searched the judge of the Supreme Court, Yelenina, in Knyazev’s case. They found $177,750 and 10,000 euros in cash.
On September 5, the bail amount for the former head of the Supreme Court, Vsevolod Knyazev, was reduced from 75 to 55 million hryvnias. On September 26, it became known that the Appeals Chamber of the High Anti-Corruption Court left the former head of the Supreme Court, Vsevolod Knyazev, in custody.
On October 4, law enforcement agencies completed the pre-trial investigation in the case of the former head of the Supreme Court, Vsevolod Knyazev. NABU detectives were instructed to open the case materials for the defense to review.
Photo: open sources
