The Special Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (SAPO) and the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) have concluded their investigation into the misappropriation of 32 million hryvnias from ‘Ukroboronprom’

This was reported by the Specialised Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office.

According to the SAPO, the prosecutor has decided to conclude the pre-trial investigation into three members of an alleged criminal group. Detectives from the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) have now made the case files available to the defence for review.

According to the investigation, the scheme operated by artificially involving foreign companies to provide intermediary services in foreign trade contracts for a company specialising in the export of military-grade products.

These were companies registered in the United Kingdom and the Czech Republic. The Specialised Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (SAPO) claims that, in reality, they did not carry out any work, and all necessary functions were performed by employees of the state-owned enterprise.

Despite this, between 2014 and 2019, according to the investigation, over 560,000 US dollars (equivalent to 13.3 million UAH) and nearly 670,000 euros (equivalent to 19.3 million UAH) were transferred.

The prosecutor’s office notes that these funds were subsequently allegedly transferred to the accounts of shell companies and distributed amongst the participants in the scheme.

Furthermore, the investigation established that officials at the specialised export company had prepared documents to transfer a further approximately 172,000 US dollars (equivalent to 4.4 million UAH) and nearly 500,000 euros (equivalent to 14.7 million UAH). According to the SAP, these payments could not be made due to investigative actions by the NABU and the Public Prosecutor’s Office.

The suspects include the former director of a state-owned enterprise, who currently serves as one of the deputy directors-general of JSC ‘Ukrainian Defence Industry’, a former adviser to the director of the specialised export company, and a beneficiary of a private company.

The suspects’ actions have been classified under several articles of the Criminal Code of Ukraine, in particular concerning misappropriation of property, money laundering, forgery in the course of official duties, and attempted misappropriation of property.

The SAPO reiterated that, in accordance with Article 62 of the Constitution of Ukraine, a person is presumed innocent until proven guilty by a final and binding court judgement.

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