UKRAINE Law and Practice Contributed by: Denys Bugay, Volodymyr Vashchenko, Denys Shkarovsky and Oleksandr Lukianenko, VB Partners
Objective element: obtaining crypto-assets through deception or abuse of trust. Subject: a legally competent individual. Subjective element: direct intent, with a motive for personal gain. Penalties for this offence may include a fine of up to UAH136,000 (approximately EUR2,800), as well as restriction or imprisonment for up to 12 years. Legalisation (money laundering) of criminally obtained income (if crypto-assets are used for the circulation of criminal proceeds – Article 209 of the Criminal Code) Object: economic security and the legally established order of income circulation. Objective element: use of crypto-assets to conceal, legalise, or circulate income obtained through criminal means. Subject: a legally competent individual (including offi - cials). Subjective element: direct intent. Sanctions may include imprisonment for up to 12 years, deprivation of the right to hold certain positions or engage in specific activities for up to three years, and potential confiscation of property.
danger. This means that if the act causes no substan - tial harm or risk to individuals, legal entities, society or the state, it is considered insignificant and there - fore not punishable. This principle applies universally, without restrictions to specific industries or sectors. 4.3 Plea Agreements, Co-Operation, Self- Disclosure and Leniency Under Ukrainian criminal procedural legislation, sus - pects and accused individuals have the option to enter into a plea bargain with the investigation. The plea bargain typically includes: • the obligations of the suspect or accused to co- operate in uncovering crimes committed by others (if applicable); • the agreed-upon punishment; • conditions for potential partial relief from civil liability, such as compensation for damages to the state; and • terms regarding special confiscation and other relevant conditions. For a plea bargain to be valid, the following criteria must be met: • an unconditional admission of guilt; • if the plea bargain involves a particularly serious crime investigated by NABU, the suspect must provide evidence implicating another individual in the crime; • disclosure of the criminal actions of accomplices or other crimes committed by a criminal group, if the bargain involves a non-organiser of such a group; and Under the Law of Ukraine “On Prevention of Corrup - tion”, whistle-blowers and their relatives are entitled to state protection. This protection includes the fol - lowing. • Safety measures – if there is a threat to the life, health, property or housing of whistle-blowers or their close relatives owing to the disclosure of corruption-related information, law enforcement agencies are required to ensure their safety. • consent from all victims, if any. 4.4 Whistle-Blower Protection
4. Pleas and Defences 4.1 White-Collar Defences
In Ukraine, there are no specific defences tailored for white-collar offences. As a result, the standard defence strategy typically involves arguing that the essential elements of the alleged offence have not
been established. 4.2 De Minimis
The Criminal Code of Ukraine provides that an act or omission may – despite formally meeting the criteria for a crime or misdemeanour – not constitute a crimi - nal offence if it does not present a significant public
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