Investigation of large-scale fraud completed: criminal organization embezzled almost UAH 70 million from agricultural companies

The prosecutor's office has sent a case to court against a group of more than 15 people who, in 2018–2022, fraudulently siphoned off almost UAH 70 million from four agricultural enterprises and attempted to seize another UAH 52 million, using forged documents, fictitious accounts, and corrupt connections in tax authorities. This was reported by the Office of the Prosecutor General, according to UNN.

Under the procedural guidance of prosecutors from the Office of the Prosecutor General, the pre-trial investigation into a criminal organization, which included more than 15 people, has been completed. During 2018–2022, they fraudulently seized funds from four agricultural enterprises totaling over UAH 69.9 million and attempted to illegally obtain another UAH 52 million.

According to the investigation, the organization was headed by a resident of Dnipro. To implement this scheme, "the participants used forged passports, seals, documents, fictitious bank accounts, and involved corrupt connections in tax authorities."

The mechanism of the scheme consisted of several stages:

• through officials of the State Tax Service, they illegally obtained official data on agricultural enterprises;

• based on this information, they forged documents and opened accounts on behalf of real companies;

• posing as officials of well-known elevators and agricultural traders, fraudsters convinced suppliers to enter into contracts, offering more favorable terms than market ones;

• after receiving funds for the "deals," the money was immediately transferred to other accounts and withdrawn as cash, mainly under the guise of "salary payments."

To legalize the origin of illegal income, forged accounting documents were produced.