Half a million in illegal bonuses: HQCJ member exposed (PHOTOS)
NABU and SAPO have notified a retired judge—currently a member of the High Qualification Commission of Judges of Ukraine—of suspicion of embezzling over half a million hryvnias in state funds.
According to the investigation, while serving as a judge and after retirement, the suspect used a "Doctor of Philosophy academic degree" as a basis for receiving a 15% bonus to his salary and pension. However, he obtained this degree back in 2011 in violation of proper procedure, as no university at that time had the authority to confer such a degree, and the corresponding non-state diploma could not serve as grounds for any additional payments.
As a result, since 2015, the suspect has illegally received over UAH 576,000 from the state budget.
Legal qualification: Part 4, Article 191 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine.
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.
