Case description
Oleksandr Kovalenko, a judge from Sumy region, is accused of taking a USD 26,000 bribe for a decision in favor of a construction company. He is facing up to 12 years in prison with confiscation of property.
According to the investigation, Oleksandr Kovalenko, the head of the Economic Court of Sumy Region, asked for USD 26,600 in bribes for a decision in favor of a construction company.
Initially, the judge agreed to make a decision if the developer provided him with a two-bedroom apartment in a new building, but later demanded that he receive money from Sumbud company through the mediation of Oleksandr Maliovanyi, a lawyer and insolvency receiver. Accordingly, the latter had to sell the apartment and give the money to the judge. The “bribe” was given to Maliovanyi by lawyer Pavlo Putii, who was involved in a special operation of the NABU with the SSU.
The investigation suggests, however, that the judge might have known about the investigation, as he asked the intermediary to exchange the money for US dollars if the developer gave it in hryvnias or vice versa.
The defendants in the case, in addition to the judge and the mediator, also include officials of Sumbud PrJSC. Kovalenko is charged under Article 368(4) of the Criminal Code of Ukraine, and Maliovanyi is tried as an accomplice in the case. The actions of the developer’s employees were qualified under Article 369(3) of the Criminal Code of Ukraine.
At the end of 2017, Judge Kovalenko resigned from his position as court chair, stating that the organization of the court’s work should not suffer due to the criminal proceedings against him, which he described as pressure and influence from the executive branch.
At present, the accused judge has already been suspended from the administration of justice for six years, pending either a verdict in the criminal case or its closure.
