Embezzlement of UAH 60 million from Ukrenergo: ex-deputy head of Kharkiv regional council is suspected
Kyiv • UNN
The SBU and NABU uncovered a scheme to embezzle UAH 58.44 million from Ukrenergo through fictitious companies. The former deputy head of the Kharkiv regional council and his accomplices organized a scheme to sell stolen electricity.
Law enforcement officers have uncovered a large-scale embezzlement scheme involving almost UAH 60 million of funds from the energy company Ukrenergo. The former deputy chairman of the Kharkiv Regional Council, who was then a deputy of the regional council and is now hiding abroad, is suspected of the fraud. UNN reports this with reference to the SBU.
According to UNN sources , this is the former deputy chairman of the Kharkiv Regional Council, Volodymyr Skorobahach.
According to the SBU, in April 2022, he and his accomplices organized a scheme to steal UAH 58.44 million worth of Ukrenergo electricity.
The deputy involved 2 accomplices in the illegal activity: the founder and director of a private company in Kyiv that trades in energy.
Together, they created three fictitious companies through which they received electricity from the United Energy System of Ukraine and sold it to end consumers. None of these companies paid Ukrenergo for the electricity they received, the SBU emphasized.
At the same time, the profits received from consumers were reportedly transferred into the shadow under the guise of paying off debt obligations to affiliated companies. These "funds paid as debt" were then transferred to the accounts of another company registered in the Balkans.
According to the conclusions of the commission's forensic economic examination, as a result of these actions, NPC Ukrenergo suffered losses in the amount of UAH 58.44 million
Law enforcement officers conducted searches in Kyiv and served him a notice of suspicion to the director of the Kyiv-based company, while the other two participants in the fraud were served with notices of suspicion in absentia.
In particular, the former MP and the founder of the company, who are hiding abroad, were served suspicion notices under the following articles of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (in accordance with the crimes committed):
- Art. 27, para. 3, 5, Art. 191, para. 5 (organization and aiding and abetting in misappropriation, embezzlement or seizure of property through abuse of office committed on a particularly large scale by an organized group);
- Art. 27(3), Art. 209(3) (legalization (laundering) of the proceeds of crime).
The actions of the detained director of a private company are classified under Part 5 Art. 191, Part 3 Art. 209 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine. The issue of choosing a type of detention is being decided.
The investigation is ongoing to bring all participants in the fraud to justice. The offenders face up to 12 years in prison with confiscation of property.