EQUITY team won non-guilty verdict on 5 counts of charges!

On 16.05.2019, the Panel of Judges of the First Criminal Cassation Court of Justice with the Supreme Court dismissed the cassation by the prosecutor of Chernihivska Oblast, and upheld the decision of the panel of judges of the Criminal Court of Appeal in Chernihivska Oblast, dated 18.05.2018.

EQUITY’s client was charged with 5 counts of corruption under part 4 of Article 368 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine.

Further to the verdict by Chernihivsky District Court of Chernihivska Oblast, dated 20.03.2017 EQUITY’s Client was found not guilty under part 4 of Article 368 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine, namely, due to

failure on behalf of the Prosecutor's to prove that the Client in fact committed criminal offense under part 4 of Article 368 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine.

One of the mentioned five episodes also involved an accomplice.

This accomplice stroke the deal with the prosecutor to involve guilty plea and sentence under part 5 of Article 27 and part 4 of Article 368 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine. Thus, thereafter this accomplice continued to take part in ongoing criminal proceedings now as prosecution witness. This same deal also involved cooperation on behalf of this witness with law enforcement agencies to prove the criminal offense under part 4 of Article 368 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine committed by the Company’s Client.

The verdict by Chernihivsky District Court of Chernihivska Oblast, dated 20.03.2017, concluded that in this case the witness was provoked to commit unlawful actions with the assistance of law enforcement agencies, these actions involving improper advantage. Moreover, the court took into account the verdict by Ripkynsky District Court of Chernihivska Oblast in relation to such an accomplice, since no evidence was examined by the court at the time of striking the guilty plea deal.

The resolution by the Panel of Judges of the Criminal Court of Appeal in Chernihivska Oblast, dated 18.05.2018 dismissed the appeal by the deputy prosecutor of the Chernihivska Oblast, which asked the court of appeal for seven years of imprisonment, and upheld the verdict by Chernihivsky District Court of Chernihivska Oblast, dated 20.03.2017.

The judge of the Court of Appeal in Chernihivska Oblast presiding in the case stated separately that based on criminal proceeding materials and investigated evidence the guilt of the EQUITY Client in committing criminal offense under part 4 of Article 368 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine was fully proven. The judge also indicated that she believed that both the local court and the court of appeal sided with the Client's defense and based their verdicts without account to prosecution's arguments.

In view of the circumstances outlined above, in the episode involving the accomplice, the latter nay appeal to the court for revision of the sentence, which approved the guilty plea deal.

This case was handled by a team of criminal defense attorneys under the leadership of EQUITY partners - Oleksandr Lysak and Taras Poshyvanyuk.