Law enforcement searched a Kyiv apartment full of bundles of cash, antiques and documents allegedly belonging to the notorious Judge Pavlo Vovk on April 6.
The detectives confiscated around $5 million, including $3.7 million, 840,000 euros, 20,000 pounds, Hr 230,000, and 100 Israeli Shekels, the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) said on April 7 commenting on the search.
Apart from cash, there were antiques in the apartment. One of the pieces resembles an Aladdin’s lamp. The documents found in the apartment belong to Vovk and his relative, according to NABU.
Vovk, who is charged with abuse of office, denied any wrongdoing. He didn’t comment on whether the possessions found on April 6 belonged to him.
Aladdin’s cave
NABU located the apartment surveilling Yuriy Zontov, a brother of Vovk and an intelligence official.
Zontov and an unknown lawyer were arrested on April 6 when they were getting a $100,000 bribe, allegedly for a favorable decision by the Kyiv District Administrative Court.
NABU has not yet officially disclosed their names.
Investigators believe that the apartment they discovered served as storage for Vovk’s bribes, a source close to the investigation told the Kyiv Post. They also believe Zontov was an intermediary and was supposed to give the money to Vovk.
Zontov serves as a deputy head of the Foreign Intelligence Service of Ukraine. After the incident, he was suspended.
“The Foreign Intelligence Service of Ukraine assists NABU in the investigation into the involvement of an employee of the Service in corruption. According to the preliminary results of our own investigation, his detention is not related to his activities as an employee of the Service,” the statement reads.
On the day of Zontov’s arrest, NABU also searched the Kyiv District Administrative Court, which is headed by Vovk.
“Neither the Kyiv District Administrative Court nor I, as its head, have anything to do with today’s provocation,” Vovk said on Facebook commenting on the NABU searches.
“It is a pity that my brother’s name is mentioned among the detained lawyers. He is obviously just being used to get even with me,” said Vovk.
Vovk’s alleged corruption
In July 2020, Vovk and the Kyiv District Administrative Court’s other judges were charged in a separate case with organized crime, abuse of power, bribery and unlawful interference with government officials. Vovk denies the accusations.
Vovk is seen by civil society as the epitome of judicial corruption and impunity in Ukraine. The country’s law enforcement system, including judges and prosecutors, has consistently blocked the Vovk case.
In audio recordings published by NABU, a voice alleged to be Vovk’s discusses numerous corrupt deals, gives illegal orders and quips that no one should doubt the court’s “political prostitution.” One of the court’s judges was allegedly recorded as saying that he supports “any lawlessness in the judiciary.”
Andriy Bitsyuk, a judge at the High Anti-Corruption Court, on March 17 refused to extend the corruption investigation against Vovk. According to the Criminal Procedure Code, prosecutors had to either close the investigation or send it to trial within five days.
However, the case was not sent to trial within five days and is now likely to be closed.
Officials and their treasures
The antique vessels found in Vovk’s alleged storage space, including what looks like the lamp from Aladdin, are in line with some of the most memorable finds in bribery investigations of Ukrainian officials.
In 2016, the law enforcement accused Mykola Romanchuk, a deputy governor of Mykolaiv Oblast, of accepting a bribe. While searching his house, detectives found underground tunnels with safe vaults in which Romanchuk kept antiques, icons, silver and gold bars.
Also in 2016, detectives caught Mykola Chaus, a judge of the Dnipro district court of Kyiv taking a $150,000 bribe. Searching his house, the law enforcement found a glass jar full of dollars buried in his backyard.
Another judge, Ihor Zvarych, deputy head at Lviv Appeal Court, was accused of bribery in 2008. When the law enforcement found $1 million and Hr 2 million in his office, he half-joked that the money was given to him by visitors “for luck.” He said it was a custom when moving into a new office. Only Zvarych was prosecuted. He spent eight years in prison, was released in 2016, and unsuccessfully tried to be rehired at his job.
