Officials and Entrepreneurs Embezzled ₴10M on Firewood

BES detectives exposed an organized crime group that stole over 10 million hryvnias from purchases of firewood for the Armed Forces of Ukraine. The group included the head of a state institution and two businessmen.

It was established that the head of a state institution in the Zhytomyr region, abusing his official position, together with entrepreneurs, concluded three contracts for the purchase of firewood at significantly inflated prices.

Using forged documents, the businessmen supplied goods and then transferred the funds received into cash through financial transactions on controlled accounts. Thus, the organized group caused losses to the state budget in the amount of more than 10 million UAH.

The pre-trial investigation is being conducted in 3 episodes. The head of a state institution and two entrepreneurs have been notified of suspicion of committing a criminal offense under Part 5 of Article 191 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine “Embezzlement, embezzlement or seizure of property by abuse of official position”, Part 3 of Article 209 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine “Legalization (laundering) of property obtained by crime”. The issue of choosing a preventive measure for the defendants is currently being resolved. The investigation is ongoing

Previously, BES detectives exposed officials of state institutions of the Zaporizhzhia region of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and individual entrepreneurs who had appropriated state funds in particularly large amounts. This involved the embezzlement and "laundering" of 5 million hryvnias during the purchase of firewood for the needs of the Armed Forces of Ukraine .

In addition, a scheme to illegally import 130 cars under the guise of humanitarian aid was uncovered in the Lviv region.