The SBU and NABU exposed a scheme to steal millions of hryvnias in protection for Ukrainian Armed Forces tanks

The SBU has uncovered a new scheme for theft of funds from the defense budget: the suspects are enterprise managers and commercial structures

The Security Service of Ukraine, together with the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine, uncovered a large-scale scheme of theft of funds in the production of dynamic protection for tanks of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

According to information from the press service of the SBU, investigative authorities have identified a new scheme for the misappropriation of public funds allocated under the defense order of the Ministry of Defense. In March 2022, a contract was signed for the serial production of dynamic protection for Ukrainian Armed Forces tanks with one of the machine-building companies in Kyiv. However, as it turned out, the ex-head of the state enterprise, together with his chief accountant, decided to use the contract for illegal enrichment.

How the scheme came about:

• Artificially inflated costs: When executing a contract, the cost of products was artificially inflated. The difference between the real cost and the inflated part was distributed through controlled commercial structures.
• Withdrawal of funds into the shadows: funds received from overvaluation were withdrawn into the shadows through a number of commercial structures, which allowed attackers to avoid paying taxes and transfer money into illegal circulation.

Thanks to the efforts of the counterintelligence officers in charge of criminal activities, the SBU managed to block the activities of the scheme at the beginning of 2023. After lengthy examinations and procedural actions, losses to the state budget in the amount of almost 12 million hryvnia were confirmed.

The main suspects in this scheme are:

• former general director of a state enterprise
• chief accountant of a state enterprise
• head of the commercial structure through which budget funds were withdrawn

Their actions are qualified under three articles of the Criminal Code of Ukraine:

• Part 5 Art. 191 – misappropriation, embezzlement of property or taking possession of it through abuse of official position
• Part 3 Art. 209 – legalization (laundering) of property obtained by criminal means
• Part 2 Art. 366 – official forgery

Now the head of a commercial structure in Kyiv has been detained, and the issue of choosing a preventive measure is now being decided. In addition, the excavator operator of the state company and his chief accountant located abroad received suspicions in absentia.