Director suspected after Zaporizhzhia company supplies defective goggles to Ukraine army
Law enforcement agencies have served a notice of suspicion on the director of a Zaporizhzhia-based company that supplied defective ballistic goggles to the Ukrainian Armed Forces worth UAH 60 million.
The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) said this in a statement seen by Ukrinform.
The SBU and the Prosecutor General's Office, in cooperation with the minister of defense, uncovered a large-scale scheme to embezzle budget funds. Following a series of comprehensive investigative measures, a notice of suspicion was served on the CEO of a Zaporizhzhia-based company that supplied the Ukrainian Armed Forces with a bulk shipment of defective equipment valued at UAH 60 million.
According to military counterintelligence and SBU investigators, the case concerns 43,000 units of protective ballistic goggles and goggle-masks intended for ground units of the Ukrainian Armed Forces.
An expert examination initiated by the SBU confirmed that the equipment was unfit for use in both training and combat conditions.
Case materials show that the suspect made the deliveries under two contracts concluded in April 2024 with a state-owned enterprise of the Ministry of Defense. However, instead of the high-quality products stipulated by the contracts, the contractor supplied entirely defective equipment that failed to meet safety requirements.
Despite this, the organizer of the scheme received the full amount of budget funds allocated for the equipment.
During searches at the suspect's workplace, investigators seized documents containing evidence of the criminal scheme as well as part of the funds obtained through its implementation.
SBU investigators served the suspect with a notice of suspicion under Part 5 of Article 191 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (misappropriation, embezzlement, or seizure of property through abuse of office committed on an especially large scale).
The entire batch of defective products has now been withdrawn from logistics warehouses of the Defense Forces and from contractors' offices.
The investigation is ongoing to identify and hold accountable all individuals involved in the scheme. Those responsible face up to 12 years in prison with confiscation of property.