Position: Ex-head of the Koziv district court of the Ternopil region.
Qualification: Part 3 of Article 368 of the Criminal Code – solicitation and receipt of unlawful benefits by an official. It is punishable by deprivation of liberty for a term of five to ten years with confiscation of property.
Status: Part 3 of Article 368 of the Criminal Code - solicitation and receipt of unlawful benefits by an official. It is punishable by deprivation of liberty for a term of five to ten years with confiscation of property.
The story of the case: on March 23, 2015, a citizen of Ukraine was sentenced to 3 years of suspended sentence in the Koziv District Court. Already in January 2016, the law enforcement agencies submitted a petition to the court to change the conditional sentence to a real one, since the convict did not fulfill the duties assigned to him, namely to periodically appear at the criminal enforcement inspectorate.
In connection with such a request to the court, the accused turned to the lawyer Natalia Lisnaya. And she stated that she has a good relationship with the head of the Koziv District Court, Mykhailo Krentzel, and can negotiate with him so that he refuses the law enforcement agencies to grant the request to change the conditional sentence to real imprisonment. Attorney Nataliya Lisna asked for a bribe of $2,000 to "solve" this issue.
After some time, Lisna met with the accused again and stated that the case is scheduled for February 16, 2016, therefore, on February 15, the accused needs to hand over $2,000 so that she can hand it over to the judge before the court session, and he, in turn, accepted a positive decision.
On February 15, the accused handed over $2,000 to Lisnia, who on the same February 15 met with judge Mykhailo Krentzel and gave him a $400 bribe, and kept $1,600 for herself.
On February 6, judge Mykhailo Krentzel ruled in favor of the accused and denied the law enforcement agencies a request to change the conditional term of imprisonment to a real one.
After the verdict was announced, NABU detectives searched the house of judge Mykhailo Krentzel and lawyer Natalia Lisnaya, where the money was found.
Persons potentially involved in corruption schemes:
Lawyer Nataliya Lisna, who was an intermediary in receiving the bribe. Lisna was also charged in this case and sentenced to 5.5 years in prison. Neither Judge Krentzel nor Lisna's lawyer admitted their guilt. Lisna stated that she took the money for her legal services, and the $400 she gave to Judge Krenzel was to repay a loan she took out for her father's treatment.
Fortune:
Judge Mykhailo Krentzel's declaration is available in open sources only for 2017. In it, he noted that he owns an apartment with an area of 56.7 square meters. m, which he has owned since 2010, worth 157 thousand hryvnias at the time of acquiring ownership.
From the sources of income, Mykhailo Krentzel indicated the salary received as a judge, namely 282,501 hryvnias, as well as money for the judge's maintenance in the amount of 61,546 thousand hryvnias and his wife's salary in the amount of 46,838 thousand hryvnias.
Neither vehicles, nor land plots, nor savings in the form of funds were indicated in Mykhailo Krentzel's declaration.
Scandals:
In open sources, there is no information about the scandals that judge Mykhailo Krentzel was involved in, except for his arrest for a $400 bribe.
Persons who should have reacted:
It should be noted that in the case of Mykhailo Krentzel, law enforcement agencies reacted. He was arrested for a bribe, his guilt was proven in court, after which he was sentenced to 6 years in prison and is serving his sentence.
Sources:
https://public.nazk.gov.ua/documents/b87ba7d6-7162-4654-a52d-d9925ff20a68