Appropriated over UAH 10 million in procurements: former State Secretary of the Ministry of Justice and current top officials exposed in Ukraine

Law enforcement officers exposed a scheme of misappropriation of state funds in the amount of 10 million hryvnias for purchases for digital modernization. Among the defendants are the former state secretary of the Ministry of Justice of Ukraine, as well as the current head and deputy of departmental departments, reports UNN with reference to the SBU and NABU.

Cyber specialists of the Security Service together with NABU, with the assistance of the newly appointed Minister of Justice of Ukraine, exposed another scheme of misappropriation of state funds. The defendants stole over 10 million UAH on purchases for digital modernization. According to the case materials, the former state secretary of the Ministry of Justice of Ukraine, as well as the current head and deputy of departmental departments, are involved in the fraud.

As UNN learned from its own sources, the former state secretary of the Ministry of Justice of Ukraine is Olena Bohachova.

The SBU established that the officials appropriated budget funds allocated for the purchase of server equipment and software for the needs of the Ministry of Justice. This hardware and software complex was supposed to ensure the modernization of the department's electronic systems.

According to the investigation, in 2021, the defendants initiated the conclusion of an agreement with an affiliated private company for the purchase of new servers and software for the Ministry of Justice for 19 million hryvnias. At the same time, the specified purchase price significantly exceeded the average market prices for these types of goods and services. Thus, more than half of the amount transferred from the budget to the contractors' accounts was stolen by the organizers of the scheme.

Based on the evidence obtained, the former State Secretary of the Ministry of Justice, the head and deputy of departmental departments were notified of suspicion under Part 5 of Article 191 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (embezzlement of property or its seizure by abuse of official position, committed on a particularly large scale).

In addition, under the same article, three heads of the affiliated private company with which the relevant agreement was concluded were notified of suspicion.

Investigative actions are ongoing to bring all participants of the scheme to justice. The perpetrators face up to 12 years in prison with confiscation of property.

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The former director of a private heat supply company and the former head of a communal enterprise are suspected of involvement in a long-standing scheme of misappropriation of community funds, which resulted in losses of almost 19 million hryvnias.