The Security Service, together with the Security Service, exposed a criminal scheme at the Odesa Customs for the embezzlement of funds for the export of Ukrainian grain.
As of press service SBU, more than 10 high-ranking officials of the department are involved in the organization of the work. Among them is the deputy head of one of the departments of the State Customs Service and the management of the Odesa Customs.
"They have established a large-scale mechanism of tax evasion for the export of Ukrainian grain. Because of this, the state did not receive hundreds of millions of hryvnias. To implement the scheme, its participants involved more than 370 commercial structures with signs of fictitiousness. Thanks to them, the parcels bought wheat en masse from private farmers, agricultural enterprises and large agricultural holdings," the report says.
In order to "confuse" trade chains and avoid paying mandatory payments to the budget, merchants transferred products from one "gasket company" to another. And only after that they sold grain to exporters for sale abroad.
According to the investigation, the employees of the Bureau of Economic Security early discovered the facts of the use of risky enterprises in export procedures and warned the State Customs Service about it in writing.
However, the customs officials did not take into account the relevant comments and allowed the sale of more than 1 million tons of grain products of merchants abroad.
The SBU established that this wheat was exported through the capacities of the grain terminals in Odesa, Black Sea and Southern ports.
During 30 searches in the administrative premises of the central office of the State Customs Service, on the territory of the ports and at the places of residence of the suspects, law enforcement officers found:
- draft records;
- documents in electronic form;
- mobile phones with evidence of processing.
Within the framework of criminal proceedings under part 2 of Art. 364 (abuse of power or official position) of the Criminal Code of Ukraine, the issue of notifying the accused of suspicion and choosing a preventive measure is resolved.
Currently, an investigation is underway to establish all the circumstances of the offense, determine the exact losses to the state budget and bring the culprits to justice.
