Kyiv court judge "covered up" Zhevago's deal, searches conducted - SBI

This was announced to Ukrinform by the SBI, commenting on the statement of the Supreme Court regarding the searches.

According to the SBI, the former MP and shareholder of the Finance and Credit bank created a criminal organization to embezzle the bank's property and legalize funds in particularly large amounts. To avoid criminal liability, the former MP asked a judge of one of Kyiv's district courts for help. She agreed to the "offer" and committed a certain criminal offense to cover up the deal.

As part of the criminal proceedings, law enforcement officers searched the judge's offices and seized material evidence of the offense.

The SBI points out that the need to conduct investigative actions in the court premises is in no way related to the performance of their official duties and the exercise of lawful justice by the judge of the said court or other court employees.

"Investigative actions are not intended to exert pressure on a judge or court, interfere with the administration of justice, or obstruct the judge's activities or performance of his or her duties," the Bureau said.

Earlier on Friday, January 12, the Supreme Court expressed concern about the searches conducted by SBI employees on January 9 in the Dniprovskyi District Court of Kyiv and addressed the Bureau's director, Oleksiy Sukhachov, about this.

"The Supreme Court draws attention to the fact that conducting investigative actions, in particular searches, in courts in itself poses significant threats to the independence of judges, and therefore such actions should be carried out only in exceptional cases, if there are proper factual and legal grounds and in strict compliance with the procedure established by procedural law. According to the Dniprovskyi District Court of Kyiv, the search conducted by the SBI in the court premises was related to the consideration of a specific court case, and this fact is of serious concern," the Supreme Court said in a statement.

The Supreme Court also emphasized that "cases of interference in the activities of a judge in connection with his or her judgment and disagreement with the results of the court proceedings are unacceptable."

As reported, former MP Kostyantyn Zhevago is a shareholder of the Finance and Credit bank. SBI employees, in cooperation with the Prosecutor General's Office, continue to work on returning the funds of Finance and Credit Bank to Ukraine and extraditing those involved in their theft.

In November and December 2023, the SBI served suspicion notices to two former top officials of the Finance and Credit Bank, who embezzled more than half a billion hryvnias as part of a criminal organization. Back in 2010, the former owner of the institution created a criminal organization through which the bank's money was stolen, undermining the Ukrainian economy. He involved a number of legal entities and individuals, as well as deputy chairmen of the board of Finance and Credit Bank, who were also members of the bank's credit committee, in the withdrawal of funds and their subsequent legalization.

According to the investigation, the former owner of the bank, through front men, gained control over a private company that artificially received loans from the bank. Decisions were made by the credit committee of the Finance and Credit bank, which included members of the criminal organization recruited by the ex-oligarch, including top managers of the bank.

After being transferred to a commercial entity, the money was redirected to non-resident companies controlled by the oligarch for further legalization.