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Automatically translated version. May contain inaccuracies compared to the original.
Fiscal accomplice of embezzler Zlokchevskyi avoided punishment thanks to the fraudsters.
Mykola Ilyashenko attempted to bribe judges of the High Anti-Corruption Court.
Former tax official Mykola Ilyashenko (in the photo), who was one of the accomplices in the "record bribe" in favor of Mykola Zlochevskyi, wanted to hand a bribe to judges of the Anti-Corruption Court, but was still released under a suspended sentence, reports Ukrainska Pravda.
How cooperation with the investigation counted Ilyashenko’s exposure of criminals in another case. Only this is another case – about his own unsuccessful bribe to the VACs judges.
A year after Zlochevskyi’s record bribe, several lawyers offered Ilyashenko 1,3 million dollars to strike a deal with the officers of the judiciary in the case against him. They had no real influence over the judges.
Ilyashenko initially complied, began selling property and borrowing money. And when he realized he had been cheated out of a large sum, he decided to turn to NABU.
Thus Ilyashenko became a whistleblower and ultimately received exactly what he intended to give a bribe for – an agreement with the investigation.
Only one judge from the trio did not agree with the verdict. This did not affect the decision, but he published his concurring opinion. The judges’ names are hidden in the register. According to UP, the dissenter is Ihor Strogiy.
In his special opinion he states that during the session Ilyashenko claimed, allegedly, that the fraudsters demanded a bribe from him with threats. However, during other sessions and from the register, Judge Strogiy learned that the tax official became a “victim” only because he was deceived. He did not immediately report the “extortion.”
In the judge’s view, this may indicate recidivism and cannot be grounds for Ilyashenko’s release. The judge explicitly writes that he believes Ilyashenko’s deal with the investigation runs counter to public interest.
UP also published the sealed verdict of former Minister of Ecology Mykola Zlochevskyi, who did not face real punishment for a multi-million-bribe, paying a fine and donations to the Ukrainian Army.
In the summer 2020 it became known that NABU detectives documented the fact that former minister and Burisma Holdings owner Zlochevskyi bribed the leadership of NABU and the head of SAP Nazar Holodnytskyi. Then they spoke of an attempt to bribe in the amount of 6 million dollars.
1 December 2020 year law enforcement officers completed the investigation of this case.
1 August 2023 year SAP reported that the High Anti-Corruption Court approved a plea deal between the prosecutor and Zlochevskyi. His case was re-qualified by the prosecutor’s office from bribe to milder "influence-peddling." The former minister was fined up to 68 thousand hryvnias. At the same time Zlochevskyi donated about 660 million hryvnias to the Ukrainian Army.
The verdict itself is sealed and not published in the court register.
Document: PDF proof of the original version of the news item "Фіскальний спільник казнокрада Злочевського уникнув покарання завдяки шахраям". It records the publication content at the moment of the first scan, the preservation date and the source: ANTIKOR.
