Position: judge of the Lychakiv District Court.
Sphere of corruption: judicial.
Region of corruption activity: Lviv city.
Qualification: actions are qualified under Part 2 of Article 369-2 (obtaining unlawful benefit through the use of influence), Part 1 of Article 366-2 (declaring false information).
Status: the issue of choosing a preventive measure is being decided.
The plot of the case: in early September 2025, a judge of one of the district courts of the region was detained in Lviv region on suspicion of bribery - the judge arranged for his relative to be released from the TCP without mobilization to the army. In addition, he is suspected of declaring false information worth 7.5 million UAH.
As reported by the Prosecutor General's Office, a judge of one of the district courts in Lviv region agreed to influence employees of the DTCP and the Joint Service of Lviv region to release from mobilization his cousin, who was taken to this DTCP and Joint Service in June of this year.
The judge's niece gave him $8,000 (over UAH 330,000 at the NBU exchange rate) to resolve this issue with the DTCP and SS employees. Using his connections, the judge secured the release of his relative from the TCP premises without making a decision on his mobilization into the ranks of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and personally delivered him to Lviv.
According to local media, this is a judge of the Lychakiv District Court, Yuriy Bilous. As part of the criminal proceedings, the facts of possible bribery by officials of the DTCP and the SS under Part 3 of Article 368 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine are also being investigated.
In addition, during the pre-trial investigation, facts were established that the judge entered knowingly false information into the annual declaration for 2024 regarding his family's property, which differed from the reliable information by a total amount of more than UAH 7.5 million.
Yuriy Bilous has been working as a judge of the Lychakiv District Court for over a year, since June 2024. In his declaration, he hid several apartments, a car, and a land plot, and also failed to report that he lives with his ex-wife in an apartment of 77.8 sq m in Sykhiv.
He also did not declare a 2023 Toyota RAV4 Hybrid, which belongs to a member of his family. He also hid a land plot with an area of 722 sq.m in the village of Konopnytsia, Lviv district, which a member of his family purchased in 2021 for 66.7 thousand UAH. He also did not declare income of 385 thousand UAH received by a family member from the sale of a Toyota Camry. In addition, he did not indicate financial obligations in the amount of more than 5.7 million UAH related to the acquisition of property rights to two apartments in the Halytskyi district of Lviv with an area of almost 60 sq.m each.
If found guilty, the suspect faces a sentence of up to five years in prison. The criminal case will then be transferred to the National Anti-Corruption Bureau for investigation.
The judge has currently been notified of suspicion under two articles of the Criminal Code:
· Part 2 of Article 369-2 (obtaining unlawful benefit through the use of influence),
· Part 1 of Article 366-2 (declaration of false information).
The issue of sending materials to the High Council of Justice to select a preventive measure for the suspect is being resolved.
Persons potentially involved in corruption schemes: no information is available from open sources about potential accomplices.
Assets: in his 2024 declaration, Bilous indicated that he owns three plots of land in the Lviv region (one of them was purchased during the full-scale war), and also has an apartment in joint partial ownership in Lviv.
Bilous also has the right to free use of a Toyota Camry Hybrid car, which belongs to his relative.
The judge's income for 2024 was UAH 6,940,610 (of which UAH 1,261,563 was salary).
Bilous declared 4,480,000 UAH and 25,000 dollars in cash.
Persons who should have reacted: law enforcement agencies responded in a timely manner to the judge's criminal activities, presenting him with suspicions.
Scandals: Before the corruption scheme, he was not seen as a figure in other scandals.
Sources:
https://www.nta.ua/u_lvovi_zatrimali_suddiu_iakii_prixovav_maina_na_milioni_griven_76731
https://public.nazk.gov.ua/documents/905a58be-7587-4494-8960-12321c8e46e7