Plea bargain helps lawyer in Odesa region avoid prison

The High Anti-Corruption Court of Ukraine has approved a plea agreement between the prosecutor and lawyer Tetyana Berezhna, under which the latter pleaded guilty to bribing judge Oleksandr Boyarsky.

According to the court' s verdict, in return for this bribe, the judge had to establish the fact that a man of military age was constantly caring for a person who needed it for health reasons.

Thanks to the judge's decision, the man could have received a deferral from mobilization. The lawyer said that she transferred the money through a trustee. The trustee met with the judge at the Maestro cafe in Odesa, after which the trustee went to the judge's car and put $400 in the glove compartment.

The judge sentenced the woman to four years in prison, which was, however, commuted to one year of probation. The woman agreed to plead guilty, cooperate with the investigation in the criminal proceedings against the organized group in the Bilhorod-Dnistrovskyi City District Court and transfer UAH 500,000 to the needs of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

In April, the case against lawyer Serhiy Hafiychuk, who is accused of also trying to bribe the judge of the Bilhorod-Dnistrovskyi City District Court, Oleksandr Boyarskyi, was also brought to court.

Judge Oleksandr Boyarsky of the Bilhorod-Dnistrovskyi City District Court was at the center of a corruption scandal in 2023, when he was suspected of taking a bribe to help a man evade mobilization.

On January 12, the High Council of Justice granted permission to keep the judge in custody.

On January 16, 2024, the High Anti-Corruption Court arrested the judge for two months with the possibility of bail in excess of UAH 1 million.

According to the investigation, in December 2023, Boyarsky took $1,500 for making a decision that would allow the father to officially formalize the child's residence with him. Such a document allows a father to avoid mobilization and go abroad with his child.

The scheme worked like this: men filed lawsuits to establish the children's place of residence, and the court ruled in their favor, regardless of the circumstances. These documents were then used to cross the border, often even without children. According to prosecutors, in 2022-2023, this court made more than a thousand such decisions. There were also cases of falsification of claims, determination of children's residence in the occupied territories, and interference with the automated case distribution system.

On March 9, 2024, the HCJ suspended Judge Oleksandr Boyarsky from the administration of justice in connection with criminal prosecution.

Кирило Бойко