HACCU arrests Zhevaho, owner of Finance and Credit Group, in absentia in bribery case against former Supreme Court Chief Justice Kniazev
An investigating judge of the High Anti-Corruption Court has imposed a pre-trial restraint in the form of detention on Kostiantyn Zhevaho, owner of the Finance and Credit group, who is suspected of bribing the former chairman and judges of the Supreme Court. Zhevaho is currently in France.
According to Censor.NET, this was reported by the press service of the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office.
It is noted that on July 10, 2024, the HACC investigating judge upheld the position of the SAPO prosecutor and imposed a measure of restraint in the form of detention on the owner of the Finance and Credit group, suspected of providing undue benefit to the Chief Justice and judges of the Supreme Court (Part 4 of Article 369 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine).
After the suspect is detained and brought to the place of pre-trial investigation, the investigating judge will decide on the application of this measure of restraint.
It should be noted that the person was in the territory of the French Republic at the time of the crime and is currently residing in the country.
The case of bribery of the former head of the Supreme Court Vsevolod Kniazev
On May 16, the NABU and the SAPO announced that they had uncovered a scheme to take bribes from the Supreme Court leadership and judges. Law enforcers detained the current head of the Court, Kniazev, and seized $2.7 million. Later, the SAPO notified Kniazev and his accomplice, a lawyer, of suspicion.
The case in which the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court received a bribe is connected to the structures of businessman Kostiantyn Zhevaho. According to the investigation, Zhevaho was personally involved in organizing the bribe, although he denies it.
The SAPO clarified that the bribe transfer involved a law union that was actually used to cover a "back office" that allowed it to influence decisions of the Supreme Court and other courts. He did not name the law firm. The interests of Ferrexpo Zhevaho in the Supreme Court were represented by the law firm Ilyashov & Partners, but they denied any involvement in the case.
The HCJ authorized Kniazev's arrest. The court arrested him with the possibility of bail of 107 million 360 thousand hryvnias.
On May 31, the Appeals Chamber of the High Anti-Corruption Court refused to release former Supreme Court Chief Justice Vsevolod Kniazev, suspected of taking a bribe but reduced the alternative bail from UAH 107.3 million to UAH 75 million.
On September 5, the High Anti-Corruption Court reduced Kniazev's bail for the second time, from UAH 75 million to UAH 55 million. The next time the bail was reduced on September 26 - from UAH 55 million to UAH 45 million. On November 2, the bail was reduced to UAH 35 million. On December 21, the bail was reduced from UAH 27 million to UAH 20 million.
On December 27, 2023, the Pecherskyi District Court of Kyiv found former Supreme Court Chairman Vsevolod Kniazev guilty of violating the legal restrictions on receiving gifts. In addition, the court ordered Kniazev to pay a fine of UAH 2,550 and also confiscated a gift of UAH 906,600.27.
Kniazev was released on UAH 18.168 million bail. According to the lawyer, this was done by friends of the former Chief Justice. On January 31, he was released from custody.
