Flower business with fictitious individual entrepreneurs exposed in Odesa

In the Odesa region, an entrepreneur was exposed for organizing a tax evasion scheme by "splitting" his flower business into individual entrepreneurs (FOPs). He managed to conceal the real sales volumes and avoid paying over 10 million hryvnias in taxes. This was reported by the Bureau of Economic Security of Ukraine, according to UNN.

Details

The investigation established that to understate income and maintain a simplified taxation system, he formally registered relatives, acquaintances, and employees as FOPs, while they did not conduct independent activities. All management decisions were made by the organizer, and the business functioned as a single entity. Flowers were sold in Odesa and Kyiv. In total, over 60 people were involved.

Payments for flowers were made without the use of cash registers, as well as in non-cash form with funds transferred to the accounts of over 30 controlled FOPs. This mechanism allowed the suspect to conceal actual sales volumes and evade paying over 10 million hryvnias in taxes.

During searches, detectives seized accounting and tax records of over 30 controlled FOPs, employment records, 511 thousand hryvnias, draft notes, seals, and almost 91 thousand flowers. The total value of the seized items is over 10.5 million hryvnias.

The organizer has been notified of suspicion under Part 3 of Article 212 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine. The indictment has been sent to court. During the pre-trial investigation, the enterprise reimbursed 10.6 million UAH to the budget. In addition, another 1 million UAH was transferred to the needs of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

Currently, the "business splitting" scheme has been liquidated.

Recall

The Prosecutor's Office uncovered another scheme of forest destruction in the Lviv region - with 103 million hryvnias in damages and tens of thousands of felled trees.