A businessman named Serhiy Kiselyov was shot dead in his car on March 5 in Kyiv in a daytime assassination-style killing.
Kiselyov was shot in the head as he sat in his Mercedes car parked in Florentsii Street in the left-bank Dniprovsky district. He died at the scene. Police have launched a manhunt for the killer.
A co-owner of a jewelry factory, Kiselyov allegedly had a connection to a high-profile corruption case, dubbed the “Diamond Prosecutors” case.
The case that started in 2015 involved two prosecutors: Oleksandr Korniyets, the deputy head prosecutor of Kyiv Oblast, and Vladimir Shapakyn, the deputy head of the main investigative department at Prosecutor General’s Office.
Korniyets and Shapakyn allegedly received a bribe of Hr 3 million, which was worth $250,000 in 2015. An investigation also revealed that both prosecutors led a luxurious lifestyle that didn’t match their income. After diamonds and other valuables were found at the two prosecutors’ offices, the case became known as the “Diamond Prosecutors” case. The two denied allegations of corruption.
Nearly four years later, the case is still in the courts. Both prosecutors were released on bail.
According to Vitaly Kasko, a former deputy prosecutor general of Ukraine, Kiselyov approached the investigators after the prosecutors were arrested, saying the diamonds found at their offices were stolen from his factory during a search.
According to Kasko, Kiselyov said he wanted the diamonds returned but the prosecutors blackmailed him into giving up his claims.
However, Kiselyov didn’t have a witness status in the case, the Prosecutor General’s Office of Ukraine said following his murder.
In 2018, Ukrainian media reported that a key witness for the prosecution of the “diamond prosecutors,” Valentyn Rak, who allegedly gave a bribe to the suspects, was ignoring the subpoenas and not showing up in court.
In January, a court watchdog Sudovyi Reporter reported that Rak again missed a hearing, sending a note saying he was getting treatment at a psychiatric hospital.
