The Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office has sent to court a criminal case against members of an organized group involved in misappropriating funds of JSC Ukrzaliznytsia and laundering assets. Losses from procurement fraud involving transformers and cables are estimated at over 235 million UAH. This is reported by Sap citing Nabu, the portal PromPolitInform reports.
A SAP prosecutor, based on NABU pre-trial investigation materials, has submitted an indictment to the court against two organizers of the criminal scheme, an involved accomplice, and another individual who assisted in asset laundering. Among the accused at the time of the crime were an advisor to the Office of the President of Ukraine, an SBU officer, and a real estate agent. Between June and December 2022, the head of the group ensured the selection of a pre-determined supplier of power transformers for the state-owned enterprise.
The products were purchased from an Uzbek manufacturer through a Bulgarian shell company and then resold to JSC Ukrzaliznytsia via a Ukrainian intermediary firm at twice the inflated price. As a result of these actions, the joint-stock company suffered losses of 95 million UAH, which the perpetrators seized. Subsequently, the investigation revealed a connection between this group and another organized entity that had been controlling the supplies of cable and wire products at inflated prices since October 2021.
This group was led by a current Member of Parliament of Ukraine and a private entrepreneur who secured their victory in tenders on the condition of transferring 7 percent of the cash revenue of the supplier companies to the first group. By applying various schemes to increase product value, the culprits sold goods to JSC Ukrzaliznytsia at prices that caused over 140 million UAH in losses. The total losses of the state company from transformer and cable procurement fraud exceeded 235 million UAH.
In addition, the organizer of the crimes legalized illicitly obtained funds amounting to over 173 million UAH by purchasing luxury real estate in Kyiv and transferring money to accounts of controlled sole proprietors. The actions of the suspects are classified under articles regarding property misappropriation and legalization of proceeds obtained through criminal means.
Illustrative photo: Ukrzaliznytsia / CC BY-SA 4.0
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