The head of Ukraine’s Supreme Court has been detained as part of a $2.7 million bribery inquiry, anti-corruption authorities said Tuesday.
Supreme Court President Vsevolod Kniaziev and an unnamed lawyer were detained as part of the investigation, Ukraine’s National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) said in a statement.
The lawyer is suspected of acting as an intermediary on behalf of a billionaire Ukrainian iron oligarch, Kostyantyn Zhevago.
Zhevago is accused of bribing officials, including Supreme Court justices, with “about $2.7 million” to influence a ruling in favor of one of his companies, the Finance and Credit group, the statement said.
“This is the biggest-ever case” involving the Ukrainian judiciary, the head of NABU, Semen Kryvonos, said at a press conference in Kyiv, AFP reported.
Several high-level Ukrainian officials have been linked to corruption cases over the last few months as Kyiv attempts to crack down on graft to comply with the EU’s rule of law requirements, even as it continues to resist Russia’s full-scale invasion.
Ukraine was granted EU candidate status last June, together with Moldova.
