Ukraine's High Anti-Corruption Court has sentenced a former member of the country's now-defunct gambling and lottery regulator to eight years in prison after finding him guilty of receiving an unlawful benefit.
The verdict, announced on 12 October, concerns a former member of the Commission for Regulation of Gambling and Lotteries (KRAIL). The court cited Article 368, Part 4 of Ukraine's Criminal Code. Its announcement did not identify the defendant by name.
The court also barred him from holding positions in state authorities or performing the functions of a public official for three years. It ordered confiscation of his property, including $7,900 and half-shares in a 2005 BMW 530 and a 2006 Nissan Micra.
The defendant remains on bail and cannot leave Ukraine without the court's permission until the verdict takes legal effect. An appeal can be filed within 30 days of its pronouncement. The court said the verdict was issued with a separate opinion but did not explain that opinion in its summary.
The case dates back to August 2021. Ukraine's National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) said its detectives, working under the Specialised Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office, detained a serving KRAIL member as he received $90,000. Investigators said the money was sought in return for helping secure gambling-related permissions and licences.
According to NABU, the permissions concerned the suitability of premises in the Chernihiv and Zaporizhzhia regions for gambling operations. The bureau said the official had offered to influence decisions by other commission members and to help obtain licences for gambling at the premises.
The former official was dismissed in December 2021. NABU and prosecutors completed the investigation in June 2022 and sent the case to court that October. The latest ruling follows more than four years of proceedings since the charges reached trial.
KRAIL itself is no longer responsible for licensing or oversight. The Ukrainian Government began liquidating it in 2025 and transferred its gambling and lottery responsibilities to PlayCity, part of a wider restructuring of the sector's regulation.
The September shift in PlayCity's oversight to Ukraine's Prime Minister was another change in the governance structure that replaced KRAIL.
The court identifies the proceedings as case No. 991/4497/22
