The Pechersk District Court of Kyiv has chosen a preventive measure for a lawyer suspected of offering an improper advantage to an official.
This was reported by «Sudovyi Reporter» citing an order dated July 11.
According to law enforcement agencies, the lawyer attempted to transfer 1 million USD in the interest of his client, who is suspected of committing serious and particularly serious crimes. It is believed that the lawyer did not act independently, but in cooperation with an unknown person.
In June, they managed to find an intermediary to transfer the funds.
According to the case materials, the lawyer arranged to offer an improper advantage for a comprehensive resolution of all issues related to criminal prosecution.
In the WhatsApp messenger, the lawyer sent the «intermediary» the documents «Inquiry 14» and «On closing under the CPC». These documents indicated the numbers of criminal proceedings, the surnames of the individuals involved, and the proposals for decisions and actions to be performed by the officials of the Main Investigation Department of the National Police of Ukraine or other authorized officials. Also in the messenger, the lawyer allegedly stated that his client was ready to pay 1 million USD.
Later, the lawyer was recorded in one of the capital’s restaurants during the transfer of part of this sum — 100,000 USD.
This individual has been practicing law since 2016 and previously worked in the prosecutor’s office.
The prosecutor in court demanded his arrest with the possibility of a 41 million UAH bail, taking into account the amount of the improper advantage.
The defence emphasized the overestimation of the suspicion qualification. In particular, the lawyer did not consider the intermediary to be an official or a law enforcement officer. From the interrogation protocol, it is seen that the person who received the money from the lawyer is unemployed. In addition, considering the amount of the bribe, the defence believes that this case is not within the investigative jurisdiction of the National Police’s investigative units.
As stated in the court decision, the motion for the preventive measure was filed by an investigator of the Ternopil RUP of the State Police in the Ternopil region.
The accused lawyer himself admitted in court that there is a criminal element in his actions, but not the one he is charged with. He confirmed arranging the meeting, transferring the money, and promising 1 million USD for the completed work. In transferring the funds, he did not consider it to be for further transfer to officials. The accused promised to provide incriminating evidence in the case.
Despite the defence’s objections, the court decided to take the accused into custody.
1 million USD, as a possible improper advantage, does not belong to the accused but was allegedly the property of his client. Therefore, the court set a lower alternative bail — 5 million UAH.
For providing an improper advantage to an official (part 3 of article 369 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine), the accused faces imprisonment for a term of 4 to 8 years with confiscation of property or without it.