Former Deputy Chairman of the Supreme Economic Court Yemelyanov is suspected of illegal enrichment of over 90 million hryvnias

Law enforcement officers reported suspicion of illegal enrichment to former Deputy Chairman of the Supreme Economic Court of Ukraine Artur Yemelyanov. The National Agency for Corruption Prevention (NAPС) during lifestyle monitoring revealed signs of illegal enrichment of over 97 million hryvnias.

This was reported by the National Anti-Corruption Commission (NAPC), the State Bureau of Investigation (SBI), and the Prosecutor General Office. The name of the person involved is not mentioned, but the details of the case indicate that we are talking about Artur Yemelyanov.

He personally and his family became the owners of 6 apartments, 5 garages, and one non-residential premises in the elite residential complexes "Novopecherski Lypky" and “Tetris Hall”. The cars also include a 2017 HONDA ACCORD, a 2019 BMW X5, a 2013 LAND ROVER RANGE ROVER, corporate rights of 2 legal entities, and a deposit of $60 000 in cash into a bank account.

The national agency analyzed the income and expenses of the defendant and his family and determined that they could not have purchased this property with legitimate income.

According to the investigation, the defendant used an illegal scheme to legalize income — he registered fictitious business activities under the names of relatives and declared fictitious profits allegedly from educational services and the services of a psychologist. Later, this money was spent on the purchase of the aforementioned assets in order to hide their true source.

The former judge, who now works as a lawyer, was a member of a criminal organization. It consisted mainly of judges, lawyers, arbitration managers, and court employees. They created a system where they made court decisions that someone needed, mainly in economic cases, in exchange for bribes.

The scheme was organized by the former chairman of the Supreme Economic Court of Ukraine. He illegally influenced the distribution of cases, assigning them only to “his” judges, who made decisions in favor of the clients.

If found guilty, he faces imprisonment for a term of five to ten years with deprivation of the right to hold certain positions or engage in certain activities for a term of up to three years. The issue of changing the suspectʼs preventive measure from personal commitment to a more severe one is currently being considered.

The investigation is ongoing. As part of international cooperation, evidence is being collected that the person involved and people associated with him illegally acquired property not only in Ukraine, but also abroad, in particular in Austria, Turkey, and the UAE. In addition, they are checking whether these people could have legalized property obtained through criminal means.

What preceded

In 2016, the Prosecutor Generalʼs Office reported suspicions of Judge Yemelyanov and former head of the Supreme Economic Court Viktor Tatkov in illegally interfering in the automated system for distributing cases among judges. According to the investigation, they "actually subordinated the system for making judicial decisions to themselves". Tatkov is involved in the case of the privatization of the Zuyiv plant in the Donetsk region and the "tapes" of the head of the Constitutional Court Tupytsky. In 2017, Schemes wrote that Yemelyanovʼs ex-wife Svetlana owns many luxury real estate properties in different parts of the world — a villa in Antalya, apartments in Dubai, two hotels in Vienna, as well as a German company that manages three hotels in Frankfurt am Main. Journalists pointed to the coupleʼs fictitious divorce to hide property in the judgeʼs declaration.

In 2018, the High Council of Justice temporarily suspended Yemelyanov. He and his wife were involved in a money laundering case.

In March 2021, the High Council of Justice dismissed Judge Artur Yemelyanov from his position as a judge of the High Economic Court. The High Council of Justice found that he had abused his official position and exerted pressure on judges in cases before 2014.

Yemelyanov was first detained in December 2024 on suspicion of participating in a criminal organization and receiving a bribe. According to the investigation, the suspect used his connections in court to have Yemelyanovʼs preventive measure changed from arrest to personal bond, which gave him a chance to avoid punishment and try to leave Ukraine.

Yemelyanov was detained for the second time on May 30.

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