NABU suspects ex-head of Supreme Court's commercial chamber of laundering UAH 26m

Ukraine's anti-corruption agencies have served notices of suspicion on the former head of the Commercial Cassation Court within the Supreme Court, a former subordinate and the subordinate's mother over the alleged laundering of about UAH 26 million, the National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) said on 23 September in a release.

Investigators allege that in 2021 and 2022 the former head involved the subordinate, who effectively worked as the judge's secretary, to hide the illicit origin of the funds and the true owner of the assets. The assets include a house with a plot of land, two apartments and four land plots. The property was registered in the mother's name, which NABU says allowed the suspects to cover their tracks, according to the release.

What the suspects face

The former head and the mother are suspected under Part 3 of Article 209 of the Criminal Code, which NABU describes as large-scale money laundering. The former subordinate is suspected under Part 5 of Article 27 together with Part 3 of Article 209, the release says. NABU and the Specialised Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office (SAPO) did not name the suspects, and the release mentions no preventive measure or court date. It describes the origin of the funds only as illicit. As in all NABU releases, it notes that under Article 62 of the Constitution of Ukraine a person is presumed not guilty until a court finds otherwise.

A court already under scrutiny

The Supreme Court features in other NABU cases. In May 2023 the then Chief Justice and a lawyer working in the court's back office were caught receiving a second bribe tranche of USD 450,000, after USD 2.7 million had been passed through an intermediary in March and April of that year, NABU said in a release of 19 May 2026. On that date the agencies announced suspicions against three sitting judges and one retired judge of the court's Grand Chamber, alleging a bribe for a ruling in a dispute over a 2002 sale of 40.19 per cent of shares in the Poltava Mining and Processing Plant.

NABU's report for the first half of 2026 records that the High Anti-Corruption Court approved a plea agreement with former Supreme Court head Vsevolod Kniaziev, who received five years in prison with confiscation of property and funds, admitted guilt and agreed to give incriminating testimony, the report says. It also lists new notices of suspicion in what it calls the large-scale Supreme Court corruption case, and says 55 High Anti-Corruption Court guilty verdicts against 76 persons came into force in the first half of 2026.

Judicial vetting and the EU test

The cases sit alongside a judicial renewal programme that Ukraine has presented to EU member states. Deputy Prime Minister Taras Kachka told the EU Council's working party on enlargement on 14 October 2025 that the High Council of Justice had submitted 57 judgeship candidates to the President that year and that 131 of 141 candidates had passed the High Qualification Commission of Judges' test for the High Anti-Corruption Court and its appeals chamber, according to a government release. The same release said the President had appointed 65 judges that year, including two Constitutional Court judges, which the government said allowed that court to function fully, and cited NABU data showing 64 sentences from the High Anti-Corruption Court since the start of 2025.

Rule-of-law reform remains an explicit EU demand. The European Council said in its conclusions of 15 and 16 October that aspiring members must continue reforms, notably on the rule of law. The enlargement section of the conclusions does not refer to individual cases.