Two judges from Poltava will be dismissed due to fraud and corruption

The judges were considering a case in which one of them received a bribe for a decision.

The disciplinary chambers of the High Council of Justice prepared a submission to dismiss judge Iryna Blazhko of the Oktyabrskyi District Court of Poltava and the former head of the Leninskyi District Court of Poltava, Yuriy Novak.

This is evidenced by the decisions of November 4 and 6, reports Sudovy Reporter.

In 2016, a fire broke out at a hotel in Poltava. The insurance company “Providna” refused to pay the damages. The owner of the premises filed a lawsuit in the Oktyabrskyi District Court of Poltava to recover 5 million hryvnias in insurance compensation.

If the insurance company did not pay the damages, the compensation would fall on LLC “Dihorskyi”. This company rented the premises for the hotel and concluded the insurance agreement.

The director and owner of a significant share of LLC “Dihorskyi” had known Yuriy Novak, the head of the Leninsky District Court of Poltava, since 2009. In November 2020, he told the judge about his interest in obtaining satisfaction for the lawsuit, the lengthy judicial process, and his doubts that the case would end with a fair and lawful decision.

According to the accusation, Novak took advantage of the situation for his own enrichment, as he was acquainted with Judge Blazhko from the Oktyabrskyi District Court of Poltava, who was hearing the case. He allegedly informed the entrepreneur that a court decision would cost 15,000 dollars—initially 10,000 and an additional 5,000 after a few months. He claimed that Judge Blazhko had initially demanded 30,000, but he persuaded her to reduce the amount.

Novak met with Judge Blazhko many times and inquired in detail about the case against the insurance company. He then relayed his findings to the director of LLC “Dihorskyi.”

On December 28, 2022, under the supervision of law enforcement, the entrepreneur handed over 10,000 to a lawyer who was allegedly a middleman recruited by Novak for concealment. According to the case materials, the lawyer quickly transferred the money to Novak. The latter did not pass the money to Judge Blazhko of the Oktyabrskyi District Court of Poltava but allegedly used it at his own discretion.

Subsequently, the consideration of the judicial case was delayed as repeated construction and technical examinations were assigned, and Novak began avoiding meetings with the entrepreneur. He was only served a suspicion notice on August 22, 2022.

Judge Blazhko was not charged, but on December 2, 2022, she recused herself from the case, citing that the director of LLC “Dihorskyi” had submitted a crime report to NABU. The case remains unresolved.

In April 2023, the indictment against Novak was forwarded to the anti-corruption court. He is charged with fraud and inducing the provision of undue benefits. The lawyer-middleman was only questioned as a witness.

During the pre-trial investigation, covert investigative actions revealed extrajudicial communication where Judge Blazhko was recounting the judicial case to Judge Novak, and this information was allegedly used to perpetrate a fraudulent scheme to misappropriate funds.

Novak gave Judge Blazhko rides from the Oktyabrskyi District Court in his car and, leveraging their friendly relationship, obtained additional information about the case involving the recovery of unpaid insurance compensation. Blazhko frequently provided Novak with confidential data on the civil case and explained what was needed to secure a favorable ruling.

Partially, Judge Blazhko confirmed these circumstances during her questioning as a witness. At the same time, she indicated that she had not informed the High Council of Justice or the Office of the Prosecutor General about her actions or Novak’s actions.

Judge Blazhko explained to the High Council of Justice that there was no pressure, influence, or interference from Judge Novak during the case consideration, and they merely discussed judicial practices. Novak was only interested in the ruling to suspend the proceedings, which is available in the state register of court decisions and constitutes public information. Therefore, they discussed the application of articles of the Civil Procedure Code of Ukraine as specialists in the legal field.

Earlier, Blazhko worked as the head of the human resources department of the Territorial Administration of the State Judicial Administration of Ukraine in the Poltava region. She had known Novak as a colleague since 2003, as he worked as a consultant in the statistics and organizational-legal support department of this administration’s State Judicial Administration of Ukraine. In 2004, Blazhko became a judge of the Oktyabrsky District Court of Poltava, and Novak became a judge of the Leninsky District Court of Poltava. However, they continued to communicate as colleagues.

Nevertheless, the Disciplinary Chamber still finds violations in the judge’s actions. Blazhko communicated extra-procedurally with Judge Novak, who acted in the interests of a participant in the civil case she was considering.

The transcripts of conversations show that Novak asked Blazhko clarifying questions, sought advice on the behavior of trial participants, the content of motions, and discussed the possibility of resuming proceedings in the case. Blazhko responded positively, suggesting that motions to resume proceedings should be filed and discussed the content and procedure for submitting this motion with Novak.

Judge Novak and his lawyer did not provide any substantive explanations at the VRP meeting. Their position was that the disciplinary complaints should be dismissed because they are based on criminal proceedings that can only be verified by a court.

Two years ago, during the application of preventive measures, Judge Novak stated that NABU agent Dihorov had an ambiguous reputation. Since 2010, he had made decisions against this businessman, recovering large sums of money from him for credit debts to banks. Therefore, Dihorov supposedly intended to discredit him. Novak stated he was ready to cooperate with the detective and the SAPO to prove his innocence.