Judge from Poltava region suspected of 466,000 hryvnia fraud via fake diploma

Suspicion of large-scale fraud

Prosecutors from the General Inspection of the Office of the Prosecutor General have charged a judge of the Hrebinkiv District Court in Poltava Oblast. She is accused of large-scale fraud committed under martial law, as stipulated by Part 4 of Article 190 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine.

Investigation details

According to the investigation, in 2007 the suspect obtained a Doctor of Philosophy diploma in the field of law. This document was issued by public organisations jointly with the Interregional Academy of Personnel Management.

However, as established by the prosecutor's office, the diploma's format did not comply with current legislation. Furthermore, the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine had not approved the decision to award her this academic degree.

Financial losses to the state

In December 2016, while already holding a judicial position, the woman included this document in her judicial file. On its basis, she was granted a monthly allowance for an academic degree amounting to 15% of her salary.

According to investigators' calculations, between 27 December 2016 and 6 March 2026, the judge unjustly received 466,775.20 hryvnia in budget funds. Part of these payments was accrued during the period of martial law.

Presumption of innocence

In accordance with Article 62 of the Constitution of Ukraine, the suspect is considered innocent until her guilt is proven in court and established by a guilty verdict.

Similar cases

Previously, a similar situation was reported in Zakarpattia: a judge of the Velikobereznyanskyi District Court was suspected of fraud for receiving payments for an academic degree. According to the investigation, the man received over 642,000 hryvnia from the budget based on a diploma that did not meet the requirements of Ukrainian legislation.