Position: Judge of Primorsky District Court of Odesa.
Sphere of corrupt activity: justice.
Region of corruption activity: city of Odesa.
Qualification: Lonskyi's actions were qualified under Part 3 of Art. 15, Part 3 of Art. 369 and Part 2 of Art. 190.
Status: at large.
Story of the case : on June 19, the SAP and NABU exposed a lawyer from Odesa for receiving $2,000 in illegal benefits. According to the version of the investigation, the lawyer demanded the specified funds from the military serviceman for allegedly helping the judge of Primorsky District Court of Odesa make a positive decision in the case.
In the course of the further investigation, it was established that the lawyer involved the judge of Primorye District Court of Odesa, Ilya Lonskyi, in order to implement his criminal plan. According to the agreed actions, the lawyer had to incite the military serviceman to give an illegal benefit for passing a positive decision in an administrative case to another judge of the same court, receive an illegal benefit and transfer part of it to the specified accomplice judge. In addition, the lawyer informed the judge about the possibility of seizing part of the funds received from the person and provided for transfer to the judge.
The judge was informed of the suspicion at the beginning of August. The case was classified according to the following articles of the Criminal Code of Ukraine: Part 3 of Art. 15, Part 3 of Art. 369 and Part 2 of Art. 190.
On August 10, 2023, the Supreme Council of Justice agreed to take Ilya Lonskyi, judge of the Primorsky District Court of Odesa, into custody. The motion to arrest the judge was submitted by the head of the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office. It stated that the judge is suspected of trying to bribe another judge for a positive decision in an administrative case, as well as misappropriating part of the bribe. Judge Ilya Lonskyi, having received money from a lawyer, tried to persuade his colleague, the judge of Primorye District Court of Odesa, Anzhelika Ruseva, to make the "necessary" decision in the case. According to the investigation, Ilya Lonsky was supposed to hand over the funds in the amount of 1,000 dollars received from the lawyer Yevgeny Berestovoy to judge Rusev in June 2023. Lonsky kept $250 for "intermediary services".
On August 15, Ilya Lonsky was removed from justice and taken into custody. The higher anti-corruption court approved a preventive measure in the form of detention for 60 days, with a bail of 805,200 hryvnias. A pre-trial investigation is ongoing.
In January 2024, the Supreme Administrative Court extended the period of temporary suspension of judge Ilya Lonsky from the administration of justice.
Persons potentially involved in the corruption scheme: lawyer Yevhen Berestovy, who demanded two thousand dollars from a serviceman, is directly involved in the corruption scheme. He promised to "help" make a positive decision in the administrative case by the judge of the Primorye District Court for bribery.
Wealth: in the declaration for 2022, Ilya Lonsky registered one apartment in the city of Kherson, the value of which he decided not to indicate. He also registered an Infinity QX50 car worth UAH 365,000.
In addition, during the first year of the full-scale war, Lonsky earned UAH 955,858, and declared $30,000 in cash.
At the same time, for 2021, Lonsky received UAH 1,216,129 in salary. He declared $25,000 in cash.
Persons who should have responded to corruption schemes: in the case of the corruption scheme involving Lonskyi, law enforcement agencies responded in time. In particular, the SAP and NABU dealt with his case.
Scandals: before the emergence of the corruption scheme, Kononenko was not noticed as a figure in other scandals.
Sources:
VAKS arrested the NABU suspect by a judge from Odesa
The judge of Primorsky District Court of Odesa was suspended and taken into custody