The Kyiv District Court of Odessa has acquitted Serhiy Lepetynskyi, a native of Yevpatoria, of criminal liability, who was accused of aiding and abetting the falsification of documents to create dozens of fictitious companies. Through these companies, schemes were implemented to supply state structures, in particular the port of Pivdenny, with faulty rusty diesel locomotives.
As reported by the editorial office of 368.media, the court made the decision due to the expiration of the statute of limitations - more than six years have passed since the crime was committed. Criminal proceedings No. 7202500210000002 were closed because the suspect did not evade the investigation and did not commit new crimes.
According to the case materials, in March 2019, Lepetynskyi agreed to become the “nominal” founder and director of about 30 companies for money. Among them are LLC “A 2020”, LLC “AR-TORG”, LLC “BORISKOL”, LLC “DD-TRADE”, LLC “METKOM-GRUP” and others. According to the investigation, through some of these structures, transactions were carried out to sell old diesel locomotives to the port “Pivdennyi”, which was then managed by Vitaliy Zhukovsky, a person involved in anti-corruption investigations.
On March 26, 2019, Lepetynskyi issued a notarized power of attorney that allowed another person to fully dispose of his corporate rights — to sell shares, change directors, and charters. Thus, the “front companies” were effectively controlled by other participants in the scheme.
The prosecutor's office qualified his actions as aiding and abetting in entering knowingly false data into the state register (Part 5 of Article 27, Part 2 of Article 205-1 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine as amended in 2015). However, in 2022, the deadline for bringing the case to criminal responsibility expired, and prosecutor Nataliya Dulska herself filed a motion to close the case.
Recall that it was through one of Lepetinsky's companies, LLC "METKOM-GROUP," that the port "Pivdennyi" purchased faulty old diesel locomotives, which led to significant losses. Despite this, the main organizers of the scheme, including Vitaly Zhukovsky, have still not been brought to justice.
