Tank armour scheme: NABU and SSU expose misappropriation exceeding 102 million

This was reported by the press services of the NABU and the SSU, Ukrinform notes.

It is stated that in April 2022, during the active phase of the Russian offensive, the Ministry of Defence concluded a contract with a state enterprise for the urgent procurement of explosive reactive armour for tanks.

The then Director General of the state enterprise involved a commercial director and the director of a private company. They concluded an agreement under which the state enterprise purchased components of explosive reactive armour (covers and trays) at prices nearly three times higher than their actual cost.

According to the investigation, the company director processed the procurement through shell companies to conceal the crime. The resulting sum was transferred to controlled accounts for laundering.

The SSU press service reported that, following comprehensive measures in Zaporizhzhia and the Dnipropetrovsk region, the organisers of the scheme were identified: the commercial director of the state enterprise, its former head, and the owner of the contractor company.

Expert examinations initiated by the SSU and NABU confirmed that the scheme caused particularly large-scale losses to the state budget.

During searches at the workplaces and residences of the suspects, investigators found documentation and computer equipment used in the commission of these illegal activities.

Based on the collected evidence, the three organisers of the crime have been served with notices of suspicion under several articles of the Criminal Code of Ukraine: Part 3 of Article 27, Part 5 of Article 191 (misappropriation, embezzlement, or taking possession of property through abuse of office, committed by a group of persons by prior conspiracy); Part 3 of Article 209 (legalisation (laundering) of property obtained through criminal means); and Part 1 of Article 366 (forgery in office).

The former head of the defence plant, who is a suspect, is already in custody as part of an earlier investigation into the production of defective mortar shells. SSU investigators detained him at the end of April this year.

A decision on preventive measures for the other suspects is currently pending.