The Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (SAPO) and the National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) have notified the former head of the State Reserve Agency and three other participants in a scheme to embezzle funds from a state-owned enterprise of their status as suspects, according to SAPO.
“Under the procedural guidance of a SAPO prosecutor, NABU detectives served notices of suspicion to four participants in a criminal scheme to embezzle funds from a state-owned enterprise under the management of the State Agency for Reserve Management of Ukraine,” the SAPO stated in a post on its Telegram channel on Friday.
According to the Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office, the suspects include: the former head of the State Reserve, the former deputy director of the state-owned enterprise, the organizer of the transaction, and an accomplice (an individual).
The individuals’ actions are classified under Part 5 of Article 191 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (misappropriation or embezzlement of property on an especially large scale or by an organized group).
As part of the pre-trial investigation, it was established that in the fall of 2022, the individuals devised a scheme to misappropriate funds that the state-owned enterprise received for warehousing services.
“The scheme involved providing warehouse space to affiliated private companies under the guise of storage services. Officials of the state-owned enterprise entered into fictitious contracts with these firms and entered knowingly false information into the acceptance and transfer acts,” the statement notes.
According to the SAP, documents show that the area of the leased premises was significantly smaller than what was actually used. Subsequently, the controlled companies subleased significantly larger areas of warehouse space to the real sector of the economy.
“Such actions resulted in losses of approximately 36 million hryvnias. The participants in the scheme cashed out these funds and disposed of them at their discretion,” the Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office clarified.
The SAP notes that the organizer of the criminal scheme was detained while attempting to cross the state border. The court has now imposed a preventive measure in the form of detention.
NABU, STATE RESERVE, suspicion, САП
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