Three judgements of conviction in NABU, SAPO cases take effect in January 2021
During January 2021, the High Anti-Corruption Court Appeals Chamber upheld three judgements of conviction in the NABU and SAPO cases. Oleksandr Mefodii, a member of the Kyiv Regional Council of the VII convocation, was sentenced to 2 years and 6 months in prison, Vitaliy Kuts, Head of the Trebukhivska Village Council of the Brovary District, was sentenced to 3 years’ imprisonment, and PGO Prosecutor Oleksandr Matiushko, who offered a bribe to get enrolled in NABU, got 2 years in jail.
In January 2021, indictments regarding 5 persons within 2 cases were sent to court. Among the accused persons there are:
- two directors and an accountant of businesses, as well as a bank’s legal adviser, involved in a corruption scheme at Ukrzaliznytsia resulting in illegal takeover of UAH 20 million;
On January 25, 2020, an ex-Head of the Chernivtsi Regional Council suspected of receiving USD 400 thousand in bribe was granted access to case materials. The NABU Detectives started pre-trial investigations into 47 new criminal cases and served a notice of suspicion to the Director of a Kharkiv Municipal Enterprise, whose presumable abuse of office caused almost UAH 1 million losses to the territorial community.
Other January accomplishments include:
- UAH 2.49 million was refunded to the Berdiansk Branch of Ukrainian Sea Ports Authority thanks to the NABU activities;
- the High Anti-Corruption Court ruled that the criminal case regarding the Deputy Head of the Presidential Office should be returned to the National Bureau;
- Kyiv’s Sixth Administrative Court of Appeal upheld the legality of the actions of Detectives regarding the calculation of damages in the Rotterdam+ case.
According to Article 62 of the Constitution of Ukraine, a person is considered not-guilty in the commission of a crime and cannot be subject to criminal punishment until he or she is found guilty by court.