28 employees exposed in case of appropriation of more than UAH 1.5 billion allocated for defense needs – PGO

According to the results of the investigative actions of the conducted large-scale special operation to expose the organizers and participants of criminal schemes for the embezzlement of budget funds allocated for the needs of the defense of Ukraine, 28 persons were notified of suspicion, nine of them being members of organized criminal groups.

"Under the procedural guidance of specialized prosecutors' offices in the field of defense of the Prosecutor General's Office, together with the SBI, SSU, NPU, Department of Strategic Investigations, BES and in cooperation with the leadership of the Ministry of Defense and the AFU, a large-scale special operation was carried out to expose the organizers and participants of criminal schemes for embezzlement of budget funds allocated for the needs of the defense of Ukraine. The total amount of losses to the state is over UAH 1.5 billion," the website of the Prosecutor General Office of Ukraine reports.

"Employees of the Ministry of Defense, military units, territorial recruitment and social support centers, regional military administrations and city councils, as well as directors of enterprises in many regions of Ukraine are involved in the embezzlement. The suspects include the head of one of the departments of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, the head of a territorial recruitment and social support center in the Donetsk Region, more than seven employees of military units in the Donetsk, Odesa, Dnipropetrovsk, Kyiv and Cherkasy Regions, five employees of city councils in the Poltava and Dnipropetrovsk Regions, as well as representatives of commercial structures," the message states.

As part of the investigation, law enforcement officers conducted more than 65 searches in institutions and organizations throughout Ukraine. At present, the question of choosing preventive measures for the suspects is being resolved.

"The suspects are accused of embezzlement and misappropriation of budget funds during the procurement of goods at inflated prices and overestimation of the cost of works, improper performance of duties, official negligence during the acceptance of poor-quality uniforms for the Armed Forces, falsification and use of forged documents. One of the suspects - the head of the Main Directorate of the Ministry of Defense was charged with obstructing the legal activities of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and other military formations. Knowing about the existence of a state contract, he entered into an additional agreement and unjustifiably transferred state funds to the enterprise," the Prosecutor General's Office said.

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