Case description
The HACC has convicted Serhii Shcherbakovskyi, an officer of the Security Service of Ukraine (SSU), of extortion and bribery, sentencing him to 10 years in prison.
The detective of the SSU’s Counterintelligence Department, Shcherbakovskyi was found guilty of accepting a $60,000 bribe. Using his authority to conduct operational search in cases related to cryptocurrency crimes, he offered an entrepreneur to “settle” issues with the SSU regarding the entrepreneur’s mining farm and return confiscated property.
In July 2022, during a search, Shcherbakovskyi proposed a bribe under the guise of confidentiality to “resolve the issue” with the SSU – namely, to stop the unlawful pressure on the business and return the confiscated property. He applied covert measures to avoid detection, but the entrepreneur reported the crime to the NABU.
Shcherbakovskyi pleaded not guilty, claiming he had acted lawfully and in accordance with his official duties. He denied soliciting or receiving a bribe, stating that the businessman deliberately provoked him and provided false testimony.
The defense argued that the prosecution’s case was based on unreliable and inadmissible evidence, further asserting that the prosecution failed to present legal proof of the origin of the currency used in the controlled handover.
Shcherbakovskyi’s actions were classified under Article 368, Part 4 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine. The HACC issued the indictment and sentenced him to 10 years in prison.
