Artem Shilo received 8 years of imprisonment, but remained at large

The High Anti-Corruption Court approved a plea agreement on culpability with former adviser to the Office of the President Artem Shilo in the case of embezzlement of funds of Ukrainian Railways and sentenced him to eight years of imprisonment, while releasing him from serving the sentence with a three-year probation. According to the court’s decision, Artem Shilo also must pay a fine of 204 million UAH, and 325,7 million UAH together with three apartments are subject to special confiscation.

The agreement concerns an episode of activity of the so-called back office, through which, according to case materials, funds of the state company Ukrainian Railways were embezzled. Artem Shilo was found guilty of organizing the embezzlement of property on a particularly large scale and of legalizing the proceeds obtained through crime. The VACs decision defines the agreed-upon conditions of punishment and the corresponding property consequences, according to media reports. The eight-year sentence imposed on Artem Shilo does not entail immediate remand to the place of serving the sentence: the court released him from serving the term with a three-year probation. During this period, the statutory conditions of the probation will apply. It was the approval of the agreement that allowed the completion of the consideration of this episode in the procedurally informal process agreed by the parties. An additional condition of the decision is a fine of 204 million UAH. The VAC allowed Artem Shilo to pay it in installments over one year. The schedule provides four quarterly payments of 51 million UAH each, thereby distributing the financial part of the sentence over four stages, each for the same amount. In addition to the fine, the court imposed special confiscation of 325,7 million UAH. This measure entails the seizure of assets identified by the court into state income in accordance with the criminal proceedings decision. Special confiscation is a separate property consequence and does not replace either the imposed sentence on Artem Shilo or the obligation to pay the fine. In the list of property subject to special confiscation, three apartments were also included. The area of one of them is 183,5 square meters, the other two are each 102,3 square meters. The total area of these real estate objects reaches 388,1 square meters. No other characteristics or assessed values of the apartments are provided in the information given.

At the same time, the VACs canceled the seizure of Artem Shilo’s personal Mercedes-Benz. Thus, the decision provides for the confiscation of the specified funds and real estate, but not the retention of the seizure on this car. The property consequences for different assets in the case are determined separately. Also, Artem Shilo was banned from holding positions involving organizational-management or administrative-economic powers in military formations and law enforcement agencies for three years. The restriction concerns positions with respective managerial or economic functions in the indicated structures. It is an additional element of punishment defined by the agreement. The case concerns possible embezzlement of funds of Ukrainian Railways through back-office activities. According to case materials, Artem Shilo appeared in this episode as the organizer of the embezzlement of property and the legalization of the corresponding proceeds. These actions formed the basis for finding him guilty under the offenses agreed by the parties and the defense conditions of the agreement. Artem Shilo previously held the post of adviser to the Office of the President. In this case the court did not consider his former status per se, but the circumstances of alleged embezzlement of funds from the state company and legalization of proceeds. The approved agreement defined the punishment, the fine, the special confiscation of property, and the prohibition on holding certain positions. According to the VACs decision, Artem Shilo must fulfill the financial obligations according to the agreed schedule and comply with the probation conditions. If the obligations imposed by the court are not fulfilled or if the legally defined requirements are violated, the consequences provided by law may ensue. The specific terms for supervising the convicted person’s conduct are defined by procedural documents and criminal law norms. Thus, the decision combines the appointment of an eight-year prison term with release from serving it under probation, a fine of 204 million UAH, confiscation of 325,7 million UAH and three apartments. Separately, the court established a three-year ban on holding specified positions and lifted the arrest on the Mercedes-Benz. All of these measures are provided by the approved VACs agreement with Artem Shilo.