Lawyer and law firm partner Oleksiy Nosov, who was sentenced to 4.5 years in prison for attempting to bribe NABU detectives and SAP prosecutors, has left Ukraine and failed to return. This came to light during a hearing at the Appeals Chamber of the High Anti-Corruption Court (HACC), where the defense was seeking to overturn the first-instance verdict.
During the hearing, it emerged that Nosov crossed the border while the case was still being heard by the court of first instance. His defense attorneys claim that the departure took place «entirely legally.» The accused attempted to join the court session remotely via videoconference from abroad, but the panel ruled his absence unjustifiable, imposing a fine of UAH 6.6 thousand on the fugitive attorney.
Nosov’s legal team is demanding that the sentence be fully vacated and the case remanded for a retrial. According to the defense, investigators engaged in entrapment, while the prosecution failed to provide conclusive evidence of the bribe offer. Furthermore, the defense contends that the court of first instance unreasonably denied requests for a voice identification expert evaluation and the unmasking of key witness data. The next HACC Appeals Chamber hearing is scheduled for August 17.
NABU and SAP exposed Oleksiy Nosov in June 2024. The lawyer offered a $200,000 bribe to transfer a criminal case involving his client from the jurisdiction of anti-corruption authorities to the National Police.
«According to investigators, the attorney attempted to shield Yulia Frolova, Board Chair of Bank Alliance, from anti-corruption agencies. Frolova is a key suspect in a scheme that embezzled UAH 716 million from Ukrenergo.»
The suspect is also known as a partner at Masi Nayyem’s law firm. The attorney’s father, Serhiy Nosov, was previously appointed to a position in the Zhytomyr region by the State Agency for Restoration, which was led by Mustafa Nayyem at the time.