NABU searches Ukraine’s Supreme Court in corruption probe
NABU and SAPO reported searches at the Supreme Court (Photo: NABU / Telegram)
Searches are underway at Ukraine’s Supreme Court of Ukraine as part of an ongoing corruption investigation involving current and former judges, the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine said on May 19.
According to NABU, investigators from the bureau and the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office are conducting searches at workplaces, residences, and vehicles belonging to several sitting and former Supreme Court judges.
The searches also involve the former head of the Supreme Court, whose corruption case is currently being heard by the High Anti-Corruption Court.
Ukrainian media reports suggest the case concerns former Supreme Court Chairman Vsevolod Kniaziev.
Kniaziev was detained in May 2023 after investigators alleged he had received a $2.7 million bribe in what NABU described as the largest corruption exposure involving a judicial official in the history of the bureau and SAPO.
NABU Director Semen Kryvonos previously called the case the most significant anti-corruption investigation targeting Ukraine’s judiciary since the agencies were established.
On May 16, 2023, the Supreme Court plenary session voted no confidence in Kniaziev, removing him from the position of court chairman.
Kniaziev and an адвокат allegedly linked to the scheme were later formally notified of suspicion over receiving unlawful benefits.
Journalist Vitalii Hlahola later reported that Kniaziev had been detained near Ukraine’s border with Romania in Zakarpattia Oblast amid checks into a possible attempt to illegally leave the country.
Kniaziev later told Babel that he had been stopped at a checkpoint for a document inspection before being asked to accompany border guards.
In August, Ukraine’s High Council of Justice dismissed Kniaziev from his judicial position at the Cassation Administrative Court within the Supreme Court.
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