Investigation into Ministry of Justice procurement case completed - damages amounted to over UAH 19.5 million

NABU and SAP have completed the pre-trial investigation into the alleged embezzlement of state funds during procurement by the Ministry of Justice of Ukraine. This was reported by UNN with reference to the official Telegram channel of the National Anti-Corruption Bureau.

Details

According to the investigation, among the suspects are a former State Secretary of the Ministry of Justice, two former heads of structural units of the ministry (head and deputy head of departments), as well as the beneficial owner and two heads of a limited liability company.

According to the investigation, the beneficial owner of the LLC allegedly developed a plan according to which officials of the Ministry of Justice organized amendments to the budget for 2021. This, according to law enforcement officers, allowed for the procurement of services for the modernization of the hardware and software complex and multifunctional devices.

Further, to form an inflated expected procurement cost, requests for commercial proposals were sent to the LLC and pre-determined companies, and, as stated, "necessary" responses were received.

To create the appearance of competition, the scheme participants ensured the formal participation in the tenders of another enterprise, whose tender offer was deemed less commercially attractive than that of the controlled LLC, NABU and SAP note.

As a result, according to the investigation, the Ministry of Justice purchased services for the modernization of the hardware and software complex and 1285 multifunctional devices at an inflated cost. The state budget suffered losses of over UAH 19.5 million, which, according to the investigation, the participants in the scheme appropriated.

Law enforcement officers also claim that to launder part of the funds (approximately UAH 10 million), they were transferred to the accounts of business entities with signs of fictitiousness.

Recall

In February, it became known that SAP and NABU uncovered a new scheme of embezzlement of state funds in the Ministry of Justice. The state lost over 8.9 million hryvnias on the procurement of 1285 multifunctional devices.