A lawyer was convicted in Kyiv of fraud and extortion of $30,000
A Kyiv-based lawyer was sentenced to five years in prison for fraud and incitement to bribery. She demanded $30,000, promising to “resolve the issue” of closing the criminal case through law enforcement officials.
As prosecutors proved in the Svyatoshyn District Court, the defendant learned that an acquaintance of hers was wanted by the police. She immediately offered to “resolve the matter”: for $30,000, she promised to have the man removed from the wanted list and the case completely closed, assuring him that she would pass the money on to the police investigator.
The client was surprised by the exorbitant amount. Moreover, they had not signed any official agreement for the provision of legal services. Despite this, the attorney began to exert psychological pressure on the man. She claimed that the process of closing the case had already begun, so the money was needed urgently. The woman even insisted that her acquaintance sell his property, and later agreed to accept payment in installments.
The man could no longer withstand the pressure and turned to law enforcement. As the investigation revealed, the lawyer did absolutely nothing to help her acquaintance; she simply planned to pocket the money for herself.
In the summer of 2024, while receiving the first installment of $12,000, the perpetrator was caught red-handed. The court found her guilty and sentenced her to five years in prison.
Source: Kyiv City Prosecutor’s Office
As a reminder, an official at the municipal enterprise Informatika has been notified of suspicion of fraud involving the procurement of cameras.
Earlier, the High Anti-Corruption Court imposed a preventive measure in the form of a 3 million hryvnia bail on Supreme Court Judge Zhanna Yelenina. She is suspected of receiving an illegal benefit of $50,000 for issuing a court ruling in favor of Konstantin Zhevago, owner of the “Finance and Credit” group, Konstantin Zhevago regarding shares in the Poltava Mining and Processing Plant.
Former Supreme Court Chairman Vsevolod Knyazev, several years after his high-profile arrest, admitted that he had received an illegal benefit from businessman Konstantin Zhevago and testified against a number of judges, which dramatically changed the course of one of the most high-profile anti-corruption cases in Ukraine in recent years.
