The Prosecutor General's Office of Ukraine has identified and reported a large-scale special operation aimed at exposing individuals who embezzled funds intended for the needs of the country's Armed Forces. According to the latest data, the total amount of abuse is over 138 million hryvnias.
“A large-scale special operation was carried out to expose the organizers and participants in criminal schemes to embezzle budget funds allocated to meet the needs of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. The total amount of losses to the state is over 138 million UAH. Employees of housing and operational units, together with representatives of commercial structures in almost all regions of Ukraine, were found to be involved in the embezzlement of funds.”.
It is also reported that individual officers were caught neglecting military service and engaging in illegal enrichment.
"As a result of the investigative actions, 30 people were detained and reported on suspicion, 15 of them were members of organized criminal groups. Among the suspects are 3 heads of housing and maintenance departments in the city of Kharkiv, Mykolaiv and Dnipropetrovsk regions, 7 heads of housing and maintenance departments in the cities of Kropyvnytskyi, Chernihiv, Lviv, Prykarpattia, Zhytomyr, Volyn and Luhansk regions, as well as representatives of commercial structures," the UCP emphasized.
Details: These officials are accused of embezzlement and misappropriation of funds during the procurement of firewood for defense needs, electricity, natural gas, furniture for the army, construction work at military infrastructure facilities, etc. at inflated prices.
One of the suspects, the head of the regional KEB, is suspected of illegally acquiring assets worth UAH 11.7 million. This includes commercial property, land plots, other assets and things that the suspect registered in the name of a trusted person.
According to his job duties, the official supervised the procurement and maintenance of military property in the region.
He enlisted his wife's close relative in one of the units of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in Lviv as a soldier. Later, the soldier became the owner of a residential building and a land plot in the village of Bryukhovychi, Lviv district, the market value of which is approximately 300 thousand US dollars.
The relative of the defendant did not have the income that would allow him to build such an expensive property and carry out repairs on it. Therefore, he allegedly took out a loan of 100 thousand US dollars from the official's daughter, who is a student at a local university. However, the official did not indicate these funds in his declaration.
An apartment in Lviv with an area of almost 100 sq m in an elite area was purchased under a similar scheme. According to open information on local real estate websites, the estimated cost of such an apartment is over 4 million UAH.
The official also purchased a premium SUV for his daughter, which he again registered to his relative with numerous violations of the law.
The official was notified of suspicion of illegal enrichment (Article 368-5 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine).
The court imposed seizures on a car, an apartment, and a land plot with a house in an elite area of Lviv.
The person involved was suspended from his position for two months, and a preventive measure in the form of arrest was chosen for him with the possibility of posting bail in the amount of 3 million hryvnias.
