The "HACC decided" platform has collected original methods used by figures in corruption cases who tried to outwit law enforcement and "reliably" hide bribes. This was reported by UNN with reference to the "HACC decided" platform created by Transparency International Ukraine.
Reader's Club
It is noted that hiding money in books is very common. Sometimes, books on law are found, but there are also more original options.
Judge Natalia Ovcharenko of the Kirovsky District Court of Dnipro, together with her colleague, Judge Oleh Khodasevych, demanded $30,000 in bribes from the accused for influencing prosecutors to mitigate the charges and for a subsequent positive court decision. Over several months, the judge received $16,000 until she was detained by law enforcement.
It is noted that the method of receiving the bribe is also interesting. The verdict states that the judge received part of the money in the magazine "Save Our Souls."
The judge gave one of the accused, from whom she demanded a bribe, the magazine "Save Our Souls" and left. The man put the money in the magazine and left it on the table.
Subsequently, a criminal proceeding was initiated against Ovcharenko and the then head of the court, Hennadiy Pidbereznyi. In September 2017, the judges caught red-handed with a bribe came directly to the office of the then head of the SAP, Nazar Kholodnytskyi, with — attention — a bribe of $50,000. According to Kholodnytskyi, they offered him a total of $300,000, and in return, they expected the criminal case against Ovcharenko and Khodasevych to be closed.
The HACC sentenced Ovcharenko to 10 years in prison and 3 years of deprivation of the right to hold certain positions with confiscation of all property. Subsequently, she went missing, and the HACC Appeals Chamber declared her wanted. Khodasevych died in 2018, so the case against him was closed.
Code of Ukraine on Administrative Offenses
In April 2018, a bus driver handed Judge Olena Zhyvtsova of the Kalanchan District Court of Kherson Oblast 5,000 UAH for a positive decision in a case. By agreement, she was not to bring the man to administrative responsibility for transporting passengers without a license. According to the investigation, Zhyvtsova threatened to impose a 17,000 UAH fine on the man if the bribe was not paid.
The verdict states that the man put the money into a printed edition of the Code of Ukraine on Administrative Offenses (KUoAP), which the judge held in her hands. And all this happened right in the court corridor. Moreover, the judge kept the bribe in the KUoAP in her desk drawer until the NABU search.
The HACC sentenced Zhyvtsova to five and a half years in prison and three years of deprivation of the right to hold certain positions with confiscation of all property. Subsequently, the appellate instance and the Supreme Court upheld the verdict.
"Comments on the Rules of the Road of Ukraine"
In the summer of 2024, Iryna Chervynska, secretary of the Bilhorod-Dnistrovsky City-District Court of Odesa Oblast, provided two cases for review to one of the judges regarding the establishment of a child's place of residence with the father. She emphasized that she was personally interested in them and asked for positive decisions.
Later, she handed a bribe of $2,000 to the judge through his driver. The transfer took place at the Maestro cafe, and the money was placed in the book "Comments on the Rules of the Road of Ukraine."
Subsequently, Chervynska pleaded guilty and even testified about an organized group that operated in the Bilhorod-Dnistrovsky City-District Court. According to the investigation, the group included at least 12 people and systematically engaged in illegally changing children's places of residence in this manner.
The HACC approved the plea agreement and sentenced Iryna Chervynska to four years in prison.
Bags for every taste
It is noted that a bag is the most common way to hide a bribe from prying eyes.
Merry Christmas Bag!
Ihor Shcherbyna, former head of the Main Investigative Department of the Prosecutor General's Office, being the godfather of the SBI director Roman Truba, conspired with an intermediary in 2019 to commit a fraudulent scheme. They tried to persuade representatives of a construction company to pay $150,000, allegedly for Roman Truba, to close a criminal proceeding. In fact, Shcherbyna decided to use the name of his influential godfather.
As follows from the verdict, half of the bribe, i.e., $75,000, was transferred at the Fujiwara Yoshi restaurant. The money was in a "black cardboard gift bag with dark gold handles and a gold-colored drawing and inscription 'Merry Christmas!'".
The HACC sentenced Shcherbyna to six years in prison with confiscation of property. The HACC Appeals Chamber upheld the verdict. However, the review in the Supreme Court is still ongoing.
Santa with money
It is noted that this case is classified, so there is currently no description of it on the platform. All information provided is from media and law enforcement press releases.
The SAP accuses former Sumy mayor Oleksandr Lysenko and former director of the infrastructure department of the Sumy City Council Oleksandr Zhurba of receiving a 2.13 million UAH bribe.
It is stated that officials demanded money from the owner of an enterprise that collected garbage. If the bribe was not paid, the company would be hindered in its activities.
NABU published a video with fragments of hidden filming. It shows how officials receive the first part of the bribe, 450,000 UAH, in a Christmas bag with Santa Claus:
In March 2024, NABU completed the investigation in the case. The HACC began hearing the case in the fall of 2024, but in March of this year, Lysenko announced that he had been mobilized into the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Therefore, there is a possibility that the consideration of his case will be suspended.
Other, various, and similar
Sometimes, even more unexpected improvised means are used to transfer bribes, such as pea or coffee packaging, a Chinese box, etc. Despite the certain originality of these places, the investigation still found these funds.
Pea can
The HACC verdict states that in October 2019, Mykola Shershak, a judge of the Zarichny District Court of Sumy, requested a bribe for making a decision in two cases concerning one person. The judge valued his "services" at $2,000. This included bringing the man to administrative responsibility for driving under the influence.
$300 was seized from the judge during a personal search, and the remaining $1,700 during a search of his home. The money was found in a can of "Hospodarochka" canned peas.
The HACC sentenced Shershak to seven years in prison with a ban on holding positions in judicial authorities for three years and confiscation of all property. The verdict is currently being appealed.
Secret ̶r̶o̶o̶m̶ pocket
According to the investigation, in December 2016, Ihor Petryk, a judge of the Kyiv Appellate Administrative Court, received a bribe for making a decision in favor of a company engaged in hazardous waste disposal. Earlier, the company's license was initiated for annulment.
According to the then head of the SAP, Nazar Kholodnytskyi, the money was found "in (the judge's) robe, some internal specially made pocket, and the funds were seized there."
During the meeting of the High Council of Justice, the judge himself stated other circumstances of receiving the money, and his versions differed. Initially, he claimed that this money was allegedly family savings that he kept at work due to "Chinese doors" in the apartment, and that "all meters are stolen" in the house anyway. But later he admitted that the money was handed over by an assistant. He claimed that the assistant went somewhere and called someone, and the case against him was fabricated.
The HACC has not yet rendered a verdict in the case, as it suspended consideration due to Ihor Petryk's mobilization. The ruling states that he took the position of assistant commander of the brigade for legal work and head of the legal group of the 47th separate artillery brigade.
Coffee packaging
In November 2023, anti-corruption bodies exposed four judges of the Kyiv Court of Appeal (KCA) — Vyacheslav Dzyubin, Ihor Palennyk, Viktor Hlynianyi, and Yuriy Slyva. According to detectives, they received $35,000 for canceling the arrest of two unique An-74TK-100 aircraft, which was agreed upon with them by a representative of PJSC "Aviakompaniya Konstanta."
These aircraft were material evidence in a criminal proceeding regarding obstruction of the lawful activities of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. They are owned by the Estonian company EKA GRUPP OU, and the holders in Ukraine were JSC "Motor Sich" and "Aviakompaniya Konstanta."
According to media reports, NABU detectives found a coffee bag with money on Judge Yuriy Slyva's back, behind his belt. The same amount, wrapped in an advertising brochure, was taken from Judge Viktor Hlynianyi's car. Marked banknotes were seized at the homes of judges Ihor Palennyk and Vyacheslav Dzyubin. Almost $25,000 in marked banknotes and more than $100,000, a significant part of which was packaged in coffee bags, were found in Ihor Palennyk's apartment.
The case against the judges is currently being heard in the HACC.
Chinese box
This case is classified, so there is currently no description of it on the platform. All information provided is from media and law enforcement press releases.
In 2023, NABU and SAP, together with the then Deputy Prime Minister for Reconstruction of Ukraine, Minister of Communities, Territories and Infrastructure Development Oleksandr Kubrakov, and the head of the State Agency for Restoration and Development of Infrastructure Mustafa Nayyem, carried out a large-scale operation to expose current MPs, officials, and business representatives for bribery.
One of the episodes was a bribe offer allegedly made by MP Serhiy Labaziuk, who is also the owner of large construction and agricultural businesses. According to the investigation, the MP asked Kubrakov to provide his company with contracts for the reconstruction of infrastructure facilities worth 1 billion UAH. For this, he promised a "reward" of 3-5% of the value of each contract.
The MP's firm did receive one of the contracts — the restoration of a destroyed bridge in one of Ukraine's regions. After receiving 50 million UAH for the work, according to NABU, the MP, through a trusted person, handed Nayyem the promised percentage of $150,000, unaware that he was an informant and that the operation was taking place under NABU's control. The bribe transfer took place in the parking lot of one of the capital's supermarkets, and the money was in a Chinese box.
The video also features a pink gift bag with oriental symbols, which likely contained this box:
The case is being heard by the HACC.
Glove box
The HACC verdict states that in February 2020, Ihor Buksanchuk, the general director of the state specialized enterprise "Radon," sent a letter to the State Agency of Ukraine for Exclusion Zone Management, whose duties were performed by Kateryna Pavlova. In the letter, he asked for a significant bonus for his work in 2019 in exchange for a bribe. Subsequently, he stipulated that the amount of the unlawful benefit would directly depend on the amount of bonuses accrued to him and would constitute 50% of the funds received by him, taking into account taxes and fees.
Indeed, after receiving a 438,000 UAH bonus, Buksanchuk, as promised, transferred almost half to the head of the agency. The bribe was in a box of latex gloves. As stated in the verdict, he "handed over a box of white-blue medical gloves, saying 'these are gloves for you.' On the top of the box was an oval opening through which the witness saw that the box contained not only gloves but also blue banknotes."
The HACC sentenced Ihor Buksanchuk to 5 years in prison with confiscation of property, except for a share of an apartment. The HACC Appeals Chamber upheld the verdict. The case is currently being heard in the Supreme Court.
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