Ukraine Supreme Court head arrested for 'bribery'

Ukrainian prosecutors say they've arrested the head of the country's Supreme Court over an alleged bribery case a day after releasing these photos that appear to show stacks of American $100 bills lined up on a couch found during an investigation involving its justices. This was the National Anti-Corruption Bureau press conference on Tuesday. Its director did not name the person arrested, only that it was the head of the court and that they were suspected of taking a bribe worth $2.7 million, the highest profile discovery in the agency's history. The current chief justice of the Supreme Court is Visevolod Knyatsev, who could not immediately be reached for comment, although the Supreme Court says it's fully cooperating with the investigation and has initiated a process for expressing no confidence in Knyatsev. On Monday, the Anti-Corruption Bureau said it was investigating what it called large-scale corruption at the court. The bribe is said to have been payment for ruling in favor of the Finance and Credit Financial Group and that it might be part of a broader plot to pressure the court.

The financial group's owner, a prominent businessman, Konstantin Zhivago, has denied wrongdoing. Ukraine has historically had issues with corruption and has redoubled efforts to clamp down on it despite the war with Russia, and my corruption efforts are also central to its bid to join the European Union.

reuters, news, top news, headlines, breaking news, news today, thomson reuters, reuters youtube, markets today, bloomberg, world, regional