SBI employees with the assistance of the leadership of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine exposed a criminal organization that seized budget funds allocated for the purchase of food for the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
A large-scale corruption scheme to steal money allocated for food for military personnel and cadets of the Armed Forces of Ukraine was organized by a resident of Odessa in January 2024. He created two companies that were registered under the names of managers under his control. The latter officially employed workers at these enterprises and rented the necessary warehouses, refrigerators, and vehicles.
Odessa, in turn, ensured that enterprises formally met the requirements for participating in tenders of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine with the most favorable price offers.
By winning tenders, the companies received the right to supply food products to the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Then the organizer established contacts with military officials, who submitted to the authorized bodies of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine inflated or completely unnecessary applications for products. The companies issued expense invoices with an inflated amount of products, and the real invoices confirming the actual amount of supplies were destroyed. Based on the forged documents, the companies received payment from the state budget.
In many cases, military units were supplied with goods of poor quality, including counterfeit and expired products. Some of the funds were used by the members of the organization for further criminal activities, and the rest was distributed among themselves.
The losses established as a result of such activities of "entrepreneurs" will amount to almost 6 million UAH.
SBI employees documented all stages of illegal activity and detained all members of the criminal organization.
Currently, the organizer and eight other participants in the scheme have been notified of the suspicion:
- under Article 255 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (creation and management of a criminal organization, as well as participation in it);
- under Part 5 of Article 191 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (embezzlement or embezzlement of property on a particularly large scale or by an organized group).
The sanction of the articles provides for up to 12 years of imprisonment with confiscation of property.
Under martial law, any fraud with food for the Armed Forces of Ukraine is not only an economic crime against the state, but also an actual sabotage against the Ukrainian army. Improper nutrition of servicemen undermines their combat capability, health, and morale.
The State Bureau of Investigation is doing everything possible to bring those responsible to justice and ensure justice.
Procedural management is carried out by the Office of the Prosecutor General of Ukraine.
