The SAPO has sent to court an indictment accusing a former deputy minister and officials of organizing the embezzlement of more than UAH 225 million in the purchase of equipment by the state joint-stock holding company Artem. This was reported by the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office and NABU, UNN reports.
Details
It is reported that on May 2, 2024, the prosecutor's office, based on the materials of the pre-trial investigation, sent to court an indictment accusing 4 people of organizing the embezzlement of more than UAH 225 million during the purchase of equipment for the manufacture of defense products, namely the serial production of 152/155 mm shell casings.
The investigation found that in 2017, a foreign entrepreneur, having learned about the allocation of funding for the technical re-equipment and reconstruction of the production facilities of SJSC Artem, developed a plan to seize these funds.
To realize the misappropriation of these funds, the individual entered into a criminal conspiracy with a number of officials, including the Deputy Minister. In turn, these officials ensured that a contract for the purchase of equipment for SJSC Artem was concluded with a predetermined company that was registered by the organizer of the scheme in the United States as a freight transportation company, but had all the signs of a fictitious company
It is noted that in order to conceal this fact and eliminate competitors, the companies created the image of a certified supplier of defense products for the US Department of Defense and significantly overstated its performance indicators.
As a result, the state-owned company transferred USD 8.3 million to this company's account. The next day, the funds were transferred to the account of another company, which used them for other purposes unrelated to the contract.
These actions caused losses of over UAH 225 million to the state-owned company Artem.
The actions of the organizer of the scheme, who is hiding abroad, are qualified under Part 3 of Article 27, Part 5 of Article 191 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (misappropriation or embezzlement of other people's property).
The SAPO adds that the Deputy Minister of Economic Development and Trade of Ukraine, Director of the Department of Foreign Economic Activity and Marketing of the State Joint Stock Company "Artem" and the Director of the Ukrainian Scientific, Technical and Implementation Center for Integrated Information Protection are also charged with committing a crime under Article 191 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine.
In addition, the SAPO prosecutor filed a claim against the defendants for compensation for damage caused by the criminal offense.
У Міноборони триває анонімне опитування для оцінки корупційних ризиків17.04.24, 16:42