Law enforcement officers have notified the 11th participant of an organized criminal group that was embezzling funds from the Dnipro City Council through fictitious advertising and marketing services. According to the investigation, budget losses exceeded UAH 42 million. This was reported by the Office of the Prosecutor General, writes UNN.
Details
An investigation into a large-scale corruption scheme related to the misappropriation of funds allocated for media services for the city council is ongoing in Dnipro. The Office of the Prosecutor General has notified a former director of one of the communal enterprises, who became the 11th suspect in the case.
It is reported that it is about Andriy Kovalenko, the former director of the communal enterprise "Organizational and Analytical Service."
According to the investigation, the former head of the communal enterprise acted as part of a criminal organization led by a local entrepreneur. This businessman's firm previously cooperated with communal enterprises, and later lobbied for the victory of controlled individual entrepreneurs in city tenders for advertising and SMM services. In fact, most of the "executors" had no relation to the media sphere: among them were taxi drivers, sellers, construction laborers, and even manicure masters.
The scheme worked according to a simple model: budget funds totaling over UAH 95 million, allocated by the city council in 2022–2023 for information services, were transferred to the accounts of these "contractors." In return, they only issued paper acts of completed work, while real services were performed partially or not at all. The remaining money was cashed out and distributed among the organization's participants.
According to the results of a forensic economic examination, damages of over UAH 42 million have already been confirmed – almost half of the allocated amounts. The former director of the communal enterprise is accused of participating in a criminal organization, embezzlement of property on a particularly large scale, abuse of office, and official forgery (Articles 255, 191, 366 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine).
Earlier, suspicions were announced against ten other participants in this scheme. Investigators of the National Police, under the procedural guidance of the Office of the Prosecutor General and with the operational support of the SBU, continue to collect evidence.