Why the Biggest Bribe-Takers Are Missing from the Registry of Corrupt Officials

Why the Biggest Bribe-Takers Are Missing from the Registry of Corrupt Officials

The recipients of the largest bribes never officially became "corrupt officials" — they are absent from the Unified Registry of Persons Who Committed Corruption or Corruption-Related Offenses.

Not a single top bribe-taker from corruption scandals involving millions of dollars has been entered into the Registry of Corrupt Officials, access to which was opened on 28 September. The registry is administered by the National Agency on Corruption Prevention (NACP). A defendant in a criminal corruption case receives official status as a corrupt official and is entered into the Registry following the appropriate court decision.

Of the five recipients of the most scandalous bribes recorded by law enforcement, none had their property confiscated and none received a real prison term. Here are reminders of their "corruption stories."

Record bribe of $6 million — found guilty, but nobody will go to prison

On 2 October, NABU "agent" Yevhen Shevchenko reported that, by decision of the panel of judges of the High Anti-Corruption Court (Viktor Maslov, Ihor Strohy and Lesia Fedorak), as a whistleblower he will receive a reward of 10% of the bribe amount of $5 million that was offered to the head of the SAP Nazar Kholodnytskyi and the director of NABU Artem Sytnyk in 2020.

Under Ukrainian law, a whistleblower’s reward is calculated from the bribe amount in the national currency using the exchange rate at the time the crime was committed. Therefore, due to exchange rate differences, Shevchenko will actually receive not $500 thousand, but $350 thousand.

"Which, of course, is also very nice," Shevchenko wrote on his Facebook page.

The attempt to bribe Kholodnytskyi and Sytnyk occurred in 2020. At that time, first deputy chief of the Main Department of the State Tax Service in Kyiv Mykola Iliashenko approached Yevhen Shevchenko, who first sent Shevchenko a "memo" from the criminal case against Mykola Zlochevskyi, the former ecology minister under Viktor Yanukovych and owner of the gas-extraction company Burisma.

The case concerned Zlochevskyi allegedly selling the Kherson Oil Transshipment Complex — which was questionably separated from the state — to businessman Serhiy Kurchenko, who was close to President Yanukovych. It was then alleged that he helped the National Bank secure a stabilization loan of 800 million hryvnias for Kurchenko’s Real Bank, using that enterprise as collateral.

Through Shevchenko, Iliashenko wanted to negotiate with NABU to close the case. The demand was one million dollars for changing the jurisdiction of the proceedings — if Zlochevskyi’s case was transferred from NABU to the Ministry of Internal Affairs. Or $2 million if the SAP and NABU closed the case themselves.

Later the bribe amount for closing the case rose to $5 million, because Zlochevskyi allegedly urgently needed to return to Ukraine. In reality, Zlochevskyi’s bribe amounted to $6 million; Iliashenko planned to keep one million for himself "for intermediary services."

On 12 June 2020, the day the funds were handed over, Shevchenko met Iliashenko in his office; present there were former tax officer Olena Mazurova and Burisma’s lawyer Andrii Kicha, who studied the draft decision to close the case and made his edits.

Later Shevchenko brought the corrected "ruling" signed by SAP head Nazar Kholodnytskyi and stamped, as well as a money-counting machine.

In the tax authority’s underground parking lot, Shevchenko and Iliashenko counted Zlochevskyi’s millions. After the money was handed over, Iliashenko, Mazurova and Kicha were detained by law enforcement and a criminal case was opened.

Some time later the case reached court — the first guilty plea was entered by Olena Mazurova, with whom law enforcement negotiated a plea agreement literally days after the failed handover of the bribe.

Mazurova’s case was opened under article 369 of the Criminal Code, part 4, "Offer, promise or provision of an unlawful benefit to an official," which provides for imprisonment for a term of 5 to 10 years with or without confiscation of property.

However, by the judge’s decision Mazurova avoided confiscation as well as a prison term — taking into account her "sincere remorse and active assistance in solving the crime," the court sentenced her in July 2021 to five years’ imprisonment, suspended.

A plea agreement was also reached with Andrii Kicha, who received his sentence only in April this year (the case is closed to publication in the Judicial Decisions Registry), and with Mykola Iliashenko, who like Mazurova this week received a suspended prison sentence and also avoided confiscation of property.

According to the Anti-Corruption Center, under the terms of the agreements Kicha, Zlochevskyi and Iliashenko together paid 680 million hryvnias for drones for the military, and Mykola Zlochevskyi additionally donated 160 million hryvnias to the army.

The bribe of 6 million dollars was to be transferred to the Special Operations Forces by court decision as early as April 2022.

It is worth noting that Andrii Kicha and Olena Mazurova are present in the Registry of Corrupt Officials; Mykola Iliashenko is not listed there yet.

Bribe of $3 million. Vsevolod Serhiyovych Knyazev, head of the Supreme Court of Ukraine

On 15 May NABU and the SAP announced the uncovering of "widespread corruption in the Supreme Court," schemes for receiving bribes by the "leadership and judges of the Supreme Court."

Supreme Court head Vsevolod Knyazev was detained. He was caught receiving a bribe of approximately $3 million. The money was allegedly handed to Knyazev in exchange for a court decision in favor of companies of oligarch Kostyantyn Zhevago.

At the time of the money transfer, the Grand Chamber of the Supreme Court was considering the case regarding Zhevago's companies’ ownership of 40,19% of the shares of the Poltava Mining and Processing Plant Ferrexpo.

When the money was handed over, the Supreme Court had already rendered a decision partially in favor of Zhevago, annulling the lower court’s ruling that had declared Zhevago’s purchase agreement for the enterprise invalid—a deal made more than 20 years earlier.

The bribe to Knyazev was passed by attorney Oleg Horetskyi, managing partner of "Horetskyi & Partners." This law firm acted as an intermediary between judges and those offering them unlawful monetary benefits.

Simultaneously with Knyazev’s detention, law enforcement searched 18 other judges at the Supreme Court who were also hearing the Ferrexpo case. Marked bills were found on four of them.

The judges offered explanations for how marked money ended up with them — including buying dollars at an exchange office. Knyazev’s colleagues were not charged.

Meanwhile, attorney Oleg Horetskyi reached a plea deal. His charge was changed from complicity in receiving an unlawful benefit to complicity in providing that benefit (from article 368 to article 369 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine).

NABU does not disclose the terms of the agreements. Generally, such a deal implies the participant’s willingness to give any testimony against other suspects in exchange for the possibility of a three-year suspended sentence.

Even the main defendant — Judge Knyazev — promises to "give up" other judges if, like Horetskyi, his potential punishment is "softened."

However, unlike Horetskyi, Knyazev is currently charged under article 368 "Acceptance of an offer, promise, or receipt of an unlawful benefit by an official," which does not provide for a suspended sentence.

Punishment under this article is imprisonment for a term of 8 to 12 years with confiscation of property.

Knyazev is currently in pretrial detention. He is not recorded in the "Registry of Corrupt Officials."

Yuliia Prykhodko, employee of the Deposit Guarantee Fund, who demanded a bribe of $5 million

This story happened back in 2017, so it has largely been forgotten.

In June 2017, SBU officers detained Deposit Guarantee Fund (DGF) official Yuliia Prykhodko on a bribe of $5 million. Prykhodko was acting as temporary administrator of Aktabank, which at that time, a small financial institution from Dnipro, was already in the process of liquidation.

Previously Aktabank belonged to the family of Dnipro businessman and co-founder of the Alef group, Vadym Yermolaiev.

The case caused a sensation because the officially recorded bribe amount at the time was a record $5 million. There was also discussion about how a bank with a balance of about 180 million hryvnias could be expected to pay a bribe of 130 million.

The case narrative is as follows: in spring 2017, DGF authorized official Yuliia Prykhodko, overseeing the liquidation of insolvent Aktabank, discovered suspicious contracts concluded a year before the temporary administration was imposed. She allegedly intended to demand a bribe from the former management and owners of Aktabank in exchange for not going to court to have those contracts with the bank’s borrowers and depositors declared null and void.

To carry out the plan, Prykhodko supposedly conspired with a "citizen Borysenko."

Initially the former chairman of Aktabank’s board, Ihor Shestapalov, was told to pay a bribe of $6 million. Later the amount demanded was reduced to $5 million.

According to investigators, Borysenko involved his acquaintances, who were to receive the money from the former bank owners and put it into safe-deposit boxes at Ukrgasbank.

Subsequently, these intermediaries, "not wishing to facilitate the crime, acted with the aim of exposing Prykhodko and Borysenko." On 7 June 2017 they placed the money in Ukrgasbank boxes, although Prykhodko was detained in the Aktabank premises in Dnipro; later original bank contracts that Borysenko had promised to give the former chairman in exchange for money were seized at her residence.

According to the case materials, Prykhodko’s accomplice managed to leave Ukraine and was declared wanted. He returned to Ukraine in April 2020; he was not detained when crossing the border. Later he was allowed to view the pretrial investigation materials and was released on a personal recognizance preventive measure. The man claimed he had known nothing of the criminal case for nearly three years and had received no formal notice of suspicion.

Seven years have passed since the opening of the proceedings: the court is now deciding whether to join the criminal proceedings against Prykhodko and Borysenko into one case or not.

It creates the impression that time is being dragged out until ten years pass from the moment the crime was committed, after which the statute of limitations for criminal prosecution expires.

The case against Yuliia Prykhodko was opened under part 4 of article 368-4 of the Criminal Code, "Bribery of a person providing public services," which provides for imprisonment from four to eight years with disqualification from holding certain positions or engaging in certain activities for up to three years, with confiscation of property.

She has not been entered into the "Registry of Corrupt Officials."

People’s deputy from Servant of the People Anatolii Hunko

People’s deputy from Servant of the People and head of the Verkhovna Rada temporary investigative commission on investigating corruption at state enterprises, institutions and organizations of the National Academy of Agrarian Sciences of Ukraine, Hunko offered entrepreneurs, in exchange for bribes, access to land that was under the management of state enterprises.

He priced his "services" at $130 per hectare. For providing arable land of 1700 hectares for cultivation he demanded a bribe of $221 thousand from a businessman. He was caught in August receiving an "advance" of $85 thousand.

Hunko is not listed in the Registry of Corrupt Officials.

Bribe of $50 thousand for MP from European Solidarity Alekseiev

People’s deputy from European Solidarity and head of the subcommittee in the Verkhovna Rada committee on law enforcement Serhii Alekseiev promised to help a foreign national avoid extradition for $50 thousand.

The SBU exposed the deputy while receiving the second tranche of money — $30 thousand.

He was notified of suspicion of fraud. The sanction of the article provides for punishment in the form of imprisonment for a term of up to 12 years with confiscation of property.

At the beginning of July, People’s deputy from the European Solidarity faction Serhii Alekseiev, who is suspected of fraud, was released from custody after posting bail of 2,26 million hryvnias.

Alekseiev is absent from the Registry of Corrupt Officials.

Mayor of Sumy Lysenko

Sumy mayor Oleksandr Lysenko planned to regularly extort payments from a local private waste removal and disposal company. On 2 October he and a subordinate were caught receiving part of a bribe of 1,4 million and were sent to pretrial detention.

On 6 October Lysenko left prison after posting bail of 3 million.

The case defendant is not yet in the State Register of Persons Who Committed Corruption or Corruption-Related Offenses.

Who can be found in the Registry of Corrupt Officials?

According to the Opendatabot system, the largest number of entries in the Registry concern violations of financial control requirements.

In 84% of cases it concerns late filing of declarations.

The second most common reason is violations of rules to prevent and resolve conflicts of interest. The Registry records 4663 such cases.

Only in third place is bribery — for "offer, promise or provision of an unlawful benefit to an official" the Registry contains 4606 persons.

In 2044 cases the Registry lacks qualification of the offense — for this reason they are excluded from the general list of reasons.

Most often registrants are fined — such punishment was applied in 33 908 cases. In 56% or 19043 of cases these fines amount to 850 hryvnias.

The second most common type of punishment is imprisonment. 3285 corrupt officials were jailed, of whom 346 received so-called "suspended" sentences.

Closing out the top-3 is confiscation of property — this punishment was applied in only 1377 cases.

According to Opendatabot founder Oleksii Ivankin, the Registry of Corrupt Officials and its contents "are not a real indicator of the fight against corruption in the country."

"Rather, it overlays the probability of 'caught/not caught' onto 'made a deal/didn't make a deal.' The inevitability of punishment does not replace systemic changes that make corruption either unprofitable or impossible," he says.

Who, then, can you find in the Registry, for example, under the main articles on bribery?

The first case in the Registry, under part 1 of article 369 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine, "Offer, promise or provision of an unlawful benefit to an official," is the case of Abbas Salem, a native of Saudi Arabia and Ukrainian citizen, who at the Ukrainian border in 2021 offered a border guard 400 hryvnias, which he placed in his foreign passport (the court ruling does not indicate what issue he was trying to resolve this way). For this the Dergachiv District Court of Kharkiv region fined Abbas Salem 1000 non-taxable minimums of citizens’ incomes, which amounts to 17 thousand hryvnias. Salem was entered into the Registry of Persons Who Committed Corruption or Corruption-Related Offenses.

Under part 3 of article 368 "Acceptance of an offer, promise, or receipt of an unlawful benefit by an official" the Registry records 91 case.

The first case listed in the Registry of Corrupt Officials is that of Anatolii Teplukha, former head of the 22 -th rifle team of the T. Shevchenko station of the Znamyansky detachment of the departmental militarized guard of the Odesa Railway.

In April 2013 Teplukha misappropriated 12 pieces of corrugated roofing sheets, metal sheet and cement weighing 77 kg, in total worth 1258, 54 hryvnias. He signed write-off acts for these building materials and submitted the documents to the accounting department of the Znamyansky detachment of the departmental militarized guard of the Odesa Railway "for further misappropriation" of the materials. Later he transported the building materials to his garage in Smila.

In addition, the investigation found that Teplukha periodically threatened subordinates with possible dismissal, demanding from them 15, 20, 30 or 50 hryvnias; during October–November 2013 he thus received a total of 1835 hryvnias.

And in November 2013, in collusion with his deputy, he demanded from a detachment shooter 3000 hryvnias to avoid dismissal. At the moment of transfer in downtown Smila, the deputy was caught by law enforcement.

In 2015 Anatolii Teplukha was sentenced to 5 years’ imprisonment, disqualified from holding positions associated with administrative-economic and organizational-management functions for 2 years, and half of his personal property was confiscated. However, this verdict was appealed and was under review in court for another five years.

In December 2020 the Cherkasy District Court of Cherkasy region released Teplukha from serving the sentence, imposing a probation period of 3 years.

The Registry contains only one case under article 368-2 of the Criminal Code, "Illegal enrichment," which in 2019 was declared unconstitutional by the Constitutional Court. The case concerns former National Police officer in Odesa region Oleksandr Nazarchuk, who in 2012 demanded from a former drug-addicted convict $3 000.

Under the current article 368-5 "Illegal enrichment" there are no registrants in the registry.

Under part 2 of article 210 of the Criminal Code, "Misuse of budget funds, making budget expenditures or granting credits from the budget without established budget appropriations or exceeding them," only one corrupt official is recorded for the case of 2012 year.

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