The case regarding the supply of low-quality spare parts for armored vehicles — involving contracts worth 171 million UAH and losses of 126 million UAH — has reached the court, Prosecutor General Ruslan Kravchenko announced on social media on Thursday, UNN reports.
Details
"At the beginning of the full-scale invasion, a private enterprise received two state contracts for the manufacture of components for AFU armored vehicles worth over 171 million UAH. This specifically concerned engine cooling tubes for BMPs and other armored vehicles — components that are critical for their combat readiness," Kravchenko wrote.
According to the Prosecutor General, "during the execution of the contracts, it turned out that the supplied products were partially of poor quality and did not meet technical documentation." "Expert examinations confirmed that the spare parts could not be used for their intended purpose on armored vehicles. Moreover, they were sold to the defense department at significantly inflated prices," he pointed out.
"Losses to the state, represented by the Ministry of Defense, exceeded 126 million UAH," Kravchenko noted.
The investigation, as indicated by the Prosecutor General, established that "the scheme was organized by the director of the supplier company, who took advantage of simplified procurement procedures under martial law." To secure the state order, the suspect, according to the Prosecutor General, "manipulated data regarding the company's capacities and created the appearance of being a monopoly and unique manufacturer of defense products."
"Subsequently, he legalized the misappropriated millions through fictitious firms and individual entrepreneurs, withdrew them in cash, and spent them on luxury real estate and premium cars. The amount of transactions with signs of money laundering exceeds 73 million UAH," Kravchenko said.
"The embezzlement of budget funds was also made possible due to the official negligence of military officials responsible for logistics and material-technical support of the AFU. They failed to check the quality of the goods, approved the inflated cost, and accepted the defective items," the Prosecutor General noted.
According to him, the case was investigated in stages. Earlier, indictments were sent to court regarding the entrepreneur and the head of the service for armament, military equipment, and property of special forces of the logistics armament of one of the AFU military units.
"Currently, prosecutors have submitted materials to the court regarding the third participant — the former head of the Central Directorate of the AFU Logistics Forces Command," he reported.
The entrepreneur, according to the Prosecutor General, is charged with organizing the misappropriation and seizure of property on an especially large scale, as well as the legalization (laundering) of property obtained by criminal means; the officials are charged with negligent attitude of a military official toward service, which caused grave consequences under martial law.
Measures are ongoing to recover the damages caused to the state, he added.
"Neither businessmen nor officials will escape responsibility for looting inside the country during the war. We continue our work," the Prosecutor General emphasized.