The ex-head of the Supreme Court, Knyazev, was “surrendered” by his godfather and childhood friend

The mediator in receiving the bribe was a man who had been friends with the judge since childhood.

The notary Kyrylo Horburov was involved in the corruption scheme organized by the ex-head of the Supreme Court Vsevolod Knyazev and lawyer Oleg Goretsky. He was friends with judge Knyazev since childhood and was the godfather of his family. It was Gorburov that the investigation owes the recording of the conversation, the transcript of which was read at the meeting on the selection of preventive measures for Knyazev.

About this informs “Court Reporter” publication from the courtroom.

During the conversation, which was also attended by Horburov, representatives of businessman Kostyantyn Zhevago, who appealed to the Supreme Court against the decision of the Court of Appeal, declaring invalid the contract for the purchase of shares of the Poltava mining company, approached Horetsky’s lawyer, who had close ties with Knyazev, with a bribe offer -concentration plant 20 years ago.

From the recordings of the conversation, it is known that Zhevago initially offered 1 million dollars, but he was persuaded to increase the amount to 2.7 million dollars. Of these, 1.8 million dollars were supposed to go to Knyazev and other judges. Another 900,000 was the remuneration of Goretskyi and Horburov, who had to determine their share independently.

On May 1, Knyazev sent Horburov an SMS in which he ordered to bring part of the bribe, dividing it into parts: “Hello, make 10 for 100 and two for 150 and one for 50.”

On May 2, Goretskyi and Horburov took the money from the bank branch and packaged it in packages at the lawyer’s office.

On May 3, Gorburov, performing a special task, came to Knyazev’s home in the evening and handed over packages containing 1 million 348 thousand US dollars.

NABU detectives monitored the movement of money. Specifically, they recorded that on May 4, Knyazev transferred the money to his Mercedes car and drove it to the Supreme Court.

On May 8, Knyazev told Horburov to bring the remaining $450,000. Here’s how they discussed it:

• Prince: Did you and Oleg get together there on Zhevago? Is everything correct, normal?
• Gorburov: 1350 there.
• Prince: So.
• Gorburov: Still 450 left?
• Prince: So.
• Gorburov: When to bring?
• Prince: Well, you took it, right?
• Gorburov: Oleg deals with this issue. When?
• Prince: Come on, not now, a few more people are not closed… I think it’s Friday.

In the end, receiving the second part of the bribe was postponed until Monday. On the evening of May 15, Horburov came to Knyazev with a bag containing 450,000 dollars.

Immediately after the transfer of money, Knyazev’s apartment and his judge’s office were searched. From the safe in the office of the head of the Supreme Court, 548,000 dollars in marked bills were removed – part of the money transferred on May 1.

The same evening, NABU detectives arrived at the residence of lawyer Goretskyi. Hearing a knock on the door, he fled across the terrace, but was found in a hotel room hiding in a closet.

Notary Gorburov changed the status of accomplice to “agent” in the case. In the documents regarding the controlled delivery of the bribe, he was labeled under the surname Kravchenko.

It will be recalled that NABU previously confirmed that the co-owner of the financial and industrial group “Finance and Credit” Kostyantyn Zhevago was involved in the bribery case for Supreme Court Chairman Vsevolod Knyazev and other judges.

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