“Law enforcement officers exposed another scheme of embezzlement of budget funds during defense purchases.”, — write: www.pravda.com.ua
Source: Office of the Prosecutor General, SBU
Details: As a result of complex measures, the general director of the Zaporizhzhia company, which delivered a wholesale batch of defective equipment worth 60 million hryvnias to the Armed Forces, was informed in absentia about the suspicion.
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He is suspected of taking possession of other people’s property by abuse of his official position by an official committed in particularly large quantities under martial law, i.e. of committing a criminal offense provided for in Part 5 of Art. 191 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine.
The investigation established that in 2024, under martial law, the official, abusing his official position, secured the participation of a controlled enterprise in two state purchases of personal protective equipment for the military. In general, it was about the supply of more than 40,000 units of ballistic glasses and goggle-masks.
In order to formally comply with the qualification requirements, documents on alleged cooperation with foreign manufacturers were submitted as part of the tender proposals. At the same time, in fact, the enterprise did not have the opportunity to supply products that met the technical conditions of state contracts.
The law enforcement officers found out that the means of protection were purchased through intermediaries from third parties, without confirming their origin and compliance with established standards. Based on the results of expert research, it was established that ballistic glasses and goggle-masks do not meet the technical specifications in terms of protection against ballistic and mechanical debris.
Despite this, low-quality protective equipment was accepted and handed over to military units, after which the state-owned enterprise made payment.
The total amount of transferred funds is almost 60 million hryvnias, which is a particularly large amount.
It is indicated that in order to document the criminal scheme, prosecutors together with the SBU conducted a significant amount of investigative and procedural actions: they analyzed tender documentation, terms of state contracts, supply logistics, financial transactions, as well as the results of expert studies on the actual quality of the supplied protective equipment. It was the collected materials that became the basis for the notification of suspicion.
During searches of the suspect’s place of work, documents with evidence of a criminal scheme and part of the money received from its implementation were found.
Currently, the entire batch of defective products has been removed from the logistics warehouses of the Defense Forces and contractors’ offices, the special service says.
In connection with the fact that the suspect is abroad, the notification was made in accordance with Art. 135 of the CPC of Ukraine method. Measures are being taken to declare the suspect wanted, the prosecutor’s office reports.