SBU closes money laundering center with turnover of hundreds of millions of hryvnias

"Employees of the Security Service of Ukraine have stopped the activities of a powerful interregional money laundering center with a total turnover of hundreds of millions of Ukrainian hryvnias," the report said.

It notes that the operatives found out that the organizers of the group from Kyiv and Poltava had created a mechanism for "shadowing" the funds of a number of business entities. The culprits "rendered services" to entrepreneurs to minimize the tax burden. The mechanism of embezzlement of budget funds was organized through the use of controlled firms in the real sector of the economy and enterprises with signs of fictitiousness.

"During authorized investigative acts conducted in the offices of the center, at places of residence and in the cars of the suspects, law enforcement officers found seals of a number of fictitious companies, means of communication, laptops, tax reporting and documentation that proves the conduct of financial transactions, as well as more than UAH 2.6 million in cash," the press center said.

According to the report, the operation to detect and block illegal actions was carried out by employees of the SBU's main department for combating corruption and organized crime jointly with the SBU's main investigation department and under procedural control of the Prosecutor General's Office.

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