Ex-village head avoids jail in bribery case
The Krasylivskyi District Court of Khmelnytskyi Oblast found the former head of the Mykhailovetsk Village Council, Vasyl Shevchuk, guilty of bribery. He demanded UAH 10,000 from the contractor for signing the certificates of work performed and further cooperation. However, instead of a real punishment, the court assigned the official a probationary period.
As stated in the verdict of April 14, Vasyl Shevchuk has headed the Mykhailovets village council since 2015. According to the investigation, in 2017, the village council concluded a contract with PE "Siad-Service" for the reconstruction of the water supply system in the villages of Mykhailovets, Motrunks, and Sushky. After partial completion of the work, the contractor submitted acceptance certificates for signature.
At the end of November 2017, during a meeting with the director of the enterprise, Vasyl Shevchuk offered to sign the documents, submit them to the treasury for payment, and promote further cooperation for a fee of UAH 10,000.
The contractor agreed to transfer the money in installments. In December 2017, he transferred UAH 2,000 to Shevchuk, and in January 2018, another UAH 8,000. After that, the official was detained.
In court, the accused pleaded guilty and entered into a plea agreement with the prosecutor. Judge Ruslan Voznyuk found Vasyl Shevchuk guilty under Part 3 of Article 368 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (obtaining unlawful benefit by an official) and sentenced him to 5 years in prison, but released him from serving the sentence with a probationary period of two years. The verdict can still be appealed on appeal.
We previously reported that the HACC scheduled a hearing in the case of former People's Deputy Vecherko.
