Scheme involving military equipment repairs: Criminal group that embezzled 15.5 million hryvnias foiled
The information was reported by the Department of Strategic Investigations of the National Police of Ukraine, according to Ukrinform.
According to investigators, the scheme was organized in 2024.
“The organizer of the scheme devised a plan whereby, for the ‘victory’ of a controlled company in a tender for the needs of the Security and Defence Forces, it was necessary to create an illusion of competition and an allegedly single advantageous offer. He ensured the participation of several controlled legal entities in the tender process, which submitted knowingly uncompetitive commercial proposals,” the National Police stated.
It is noted that this created an impression among officials of the Armed Forces of Ukraine of genuine competition and of the advantageous nature of the offer made by the company controlled by the organizer.
“After ‘winning’ the procurement tenders, the suspect personally signed contracts with the command of the military unit for the supply of goods at inflated prices, ensured their delivery and acceptance by the military, and arranged for payments to be transferred to the designated accounts. The funds obtained were distributed among participants in the scheme and spent for personal use,” the Department of Strategic Investigations reported.
On November 27, police conducted 39 searches in the Kyiv, Lviv, Khmelnytskyi, Cherkasy, Sumy, and Zhytomyr regions, as well as in the city of Kyiv. During these searches, documents and data storage devices that constitute evidence in the criminal proceedings were seized.
Police investigators notified the organizer of the scheme and his accomplice of suspicion under Part 4 and Part 5 of Article 191 (misappropriation, embezzlement, or conversion of property through abuse of office) of the Criminal Code of Ukraine. They face up to 12 years’ imprisonment with confiscation of property.
Currently, one of the individuals involved has been detained in accordance with procedural requirements and placed in a temporary detention facility.
Law enforcement officers are preparing materials to request preventive measures for the suspects. The investigation continues under the procedural guidance of the Office of the Prosecutor General. The Prosecutor's Office reported that the case concerns, among other things, Kirpi armoured vehicles, which are actively used on the front line.
The operation was conducted by officers of the Department of Strategic Investigations in coordination with investigators from the Main Investigative Department of the National Police.
As reported, officers of the State Bureau of Investigation exposed two servicemembers from a military unit in Dnipropetrovsk region who had organized a large-scale scheme for the unlawful sale of special diesel fuel intended for the needs of the Armed Forces of Ukraine during the winter period.
