Judge of the Commercial Court of Kyiv Roman Boyko: accomplice of the corrupt judge Yemelyanov
The assessment results we have today rather indicate the unwillingness of the qualification bodies to truly cleanse Ukraine’s judicial system. Meet Roman Boyko, a judge of the Commercial Court of Kyiv City.
Judges’ qualification assessment is an important stage of the judicial reform. It was supposed to become the main mechanism for cleansing the judiciary of dishonest, unqualified, and odious judges. But the assessment results we have today rather indicate nominal evaluations. And the unwillingness of qualification bodies to truly cleanse the system. Meet Roman Boyko, a judge of the Commercial Court of Kyiv City.
In 2004, he graduated from the university with a degree in "Law." He began working as a lawyer at LLC "UAIHBI Consulting," later became the director of LLC "Legal Firm ’Status.’"
He took the judge’s oath in 2009. Then, by a decree of the President of Ukraine, Roman Boyko was appointed as a judge of the Commercial Court of Kyiv City. Very quickly, in 2012, the High Council of Justice, which included Tatkov and Portnov, appointed him as the deputy head of the court. Judge Boyko received the lifelong status from President Poroshenko. The respective decree was signed on December 29, 2017.
Roman Boyko became the deputy head of the court when the odious Artur Yemelyanov began to rapidly climb the career ladder.
At that time, he was just appointed as the head of the Kyiv Appellate Commercial Court but retained influence over this court. According to our data, the judge has close ties with Yemelyanov and is a figure in a case involving mass interference in the automatic distribution of cases being investigated by the Prosecutor General’s Office.
A recent journalistic investigation by the program "Nashi Hroshi" proved that these contacts have been preserved until today. The judge visited Yemelyanov’s "shadow" office in downtown Kyiv for an informal meeting during working hours.
By the way, journalists recorded him holding meetings with interesting individuals before court hearings in very important cases for these individuals. In particular, the defendant in the NABU cases, Ruslan Zhurylo, had a very friendly conversation with Yemelyanov a few days before the Cassation Court refused NABU to recognize the contracts as invalid. If the decision had been in favor of NABU, Ruslan Zhurylo would have received another suspicion. Therefore, it is very likely that the discussions were about these cases, and Yemelyanov retained the ability to "solve" cases in the courts.
The purpose of Boyko and Yemelyanov’s meeting remains only a guess, but it is obvious that they weren’t talking about the weather.
Roman Boyko has two minor children and a wife, Oksana Boyko. As is known, families of judges are often successful businessmen. In the Boyko family, this trend is confirmed 100%.
The judge’s wife is the founder of four companies: LLC "Region-Trade" (engaged in nonspecialized wholesale trade), LLC "Aelita" (production of work clothing), LLC "Intellect-A," and LLC "Intellect-B" (software publishing). Besides this, Oksana is a private entrepreneur.
By the way, only two of the wife’s enterprises are listed in the judge’s declaration, while LLC "Intellect-A" and LLC "Intellect-B" are somehow omitted.
We do not know the reasons for such concealment, but this is a direct violation of anti-corruption legislation.
The company "Aelita" associated with the wife is suspected of possibly using the judge’s official position. In particular, in 2010 Oksana Boyko tried to dubiously privatize a historical building in the center of Kharkiv, with an area of almost 2000 sq.m. The firm wanted to purchase it at a low price, but in 2008, the State Property Fund held a competition, which was won by "PC Alla." LLC "Aelita" decided to obtain the desired property through court.
The property is located in Kharkiv, but the lawsuit was considered by the Commercial Court of Kyiv City, where the founder’s husband, Judge Roman Boyko, works. And the court canceled the results of the competition.
Then "Aelita" decided to significantly lower the cost of the real estate for itself, which the State Property Fund intended to sell the premises for. Therefore, it again turned to the court, and again to the one where the company owner’s husband works. Moreover, by an incredible "coincidence," this case also ended up being considered by him. He opened proceedings, scheduled it for consideration, and then declared recusal.
Not surprisingly, in the dispute, the court sided with Oksana Boyko and ordered the regional office of the State Property Fund to sell this building to "Aelita" for 6.5 million UAH, which is almost half of the assessment of the Fund. Subsequently, this decision was declared unlawful and canceled.
But this is not the end of the story. In 2014, the Commercial Court of Kharkiv region evicted LLC "Aelita" from this premise. However, the firm still occupied the premises for two more years, leading to another court appeal and forced recovery of rent from "Aelita."
Among the judge’s closest relatives, there is also his mother. According to property declarations, Roman Boyko received gifts of money from Tetyana Boyko. A woman with the same full name participated in parliamentary elections. Together with Oleksiy Hrobatko, they are founders of LLC "POLTAVA-INTELLECT-SERVICE." In 2014, concerning this company, the Office of Financial Investigations of the Ministry of Income initiated criminal proceedings, allegedly due to tax evasion on income and value-added tax.
Tetyana Boyko is also the ultimate beneficiary of LLC "Key Certification Center ’UKRAINE’" (LLC "KEY CERTIFICATION CENTER ’UKRAINE’"). According to our data, this company is the main payer to the judge’s wife of major incomes.
We also analyzed the status and property of Judge Roman. In his declarations for 2014, 2015, 2016, and 2017, he declared a salary, interest on bank deposits, and gifts. Over four years, Roman Boyko officially earned about 1.6 million UAH.
However, the family’s breadwinner is his wife. Over the same period, Oksana Boyko brought more than 17 million UAH of official income to the family budget. The couple also has significant amounts in savings: millions of hryvnias in cash, in bank accounts, and even in precious metals.
In 2011, the couple received a certificate of ownership for an apartment worth 1,096,450 UAH in a new building with an area of 154 sq.m.
The judge owns two plots of land near Kyiv, 19.5 thousand and 1 thousand sq. m. by himself. His wife purchased three more plots of 0.044, 0.088, and 0.24 hectares not far from the capital in 2014 for a very low price of 338,000 UAH, which clearly does not match the market value.
Active construction of garages, housing, and a garden house with an area of 362 and 165 sq.m. respectively is taking place on these cheaply acquired plots.
In the property declaration for 2017, Judge Roman Boyko included four vehicles. In particular, since 2012 a Toyota Camry worth 299,343 UAH has been in the joint ownership of the couple. His wife Oksana Boyko uses the other three vehicles: a Ford Kuga, a Range Rover, and an Infiniti EX37. The latter, by the way, is registered under Oleksiy Hrobatko, a business partner of the judge’s mother, Tetyana’s.
So, the judge’s family is quite affluent. However, given the close contacts with the even richer symbol of corruption in commercial courts, Artur Yemelyanov, and participation in his schemes, a big question arises as to whether these assets were honestly earned.
The judicial reform envisages cleansing the courts of judges with questionable reputations, but the High Qualification Commission of Judges has completely nullified this goal of the judicial reform. Judges’ qualification assessment has turned into a way to improve judges’ material status rather than to dismiss unworthy ones.
As for Roman Boyko, the commission has announced a break. However, practice shows that after such a break, judges successfully pass the check. Therefore, we predict that Judge Boyko will carry out justice for life. And Artur Yemelyanov will always have in mind whom to communicate his wishes regarding "necessary" court decisions for those who turn to him.
This information has been officially transmitted to the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine, the National Agency for the Prevention of Corruption, the High Qualification Commission of Judges of Ukraine, and the High Council of Justice.
Source: PROSUD
16 July 2018 ã., 09:12
