A panel of judges of the High Anti-Corruption Court (HACC) sentenced MP of Ukraine of the VII convocation Oleksandr Onyschenko and his accomplice in the case of organizing a corruption scheme for the theft of gas from Ukrgazvydobuvannia within the framework of joint activity agreements, the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office (SAPO) reported.

"15 and 12 years of imprisonment with confiscation - a panel of judges of the High Anti-Corruption Court announced a verdict for the MP of Ukraine of the seventh convocation and his financial director, accused of embezzling public funds worth more than UAH 740 million in the production and sale of natural gas under agreements on joint activities with PJSC Ukrgazvydobuvannia," reads a report from the SAPO on Telegram.

As reported with reference to anti-corruption authorities, Onyschenko created a criminal organization, whose members illegally earned more than UAH 1.6 billion from the sale of natural gas between January 2013 and June 2016. As a result of such actions, PJSC Ukrgazvydobuvannia (100% of shares owned by NJSC Naftogaz Ukrainy) suffered damage of more than UAH 740 million.

Some 29 people are involved in the gas scheme. Among them are two close people who acted as organizers, the rest are employees of Ukrgazvydobuvannia, a lawyer, financiers, company executives, etc.

As part of the pre-trial investigation, eight suspects admitted their guilt and entered into plea agreements. Seven suspects, including Onyschenko, were put on the wanted list. According to media reports, he was hiding from justice in Spain.

On July 5, 2016, the Verkhovna Rada agreed to prosecute, detain and arrest Onyschenko. At the time of voting, the MP had already fled abroad.