Prosecutors of the Transcarpathian Specialized Prosecutor's Office in the field of defense of the Western region have sent an indictment to the court against the head of the service of one of the military units and the director of a private enterprise, who is also a local council deputy in the Ivano-Frankivsk region.

The investigation established that in April 2022, the serviceman together with the entrepreneur organized a scheme to embezzle budget funds allocated for the needs of the military unit. 

It was found that the company director prepared project documentation with inflated volumes of work and prices for materials. In turn, the official of the military unit issued false documents that justified the need for financing such works.

As a result, direct contracts were concluded, under which the enterprise carried out the reconstruction and major repair of the external lighting on the territory of the unit. The work was formally confirmed by acts with false data regarding the cost and volumes. This allowed for the unjustified transfer of over 2.4 million UAH from the budget to the enterprise.

Part of the funds received was transferred by the enterprise director to the accounts of controlled persons and subsequently converted into cash.

Both individuals are charged with embezzlement of budget funds in large amounts, official forgery (Part 4, Part 5 of Article 191, Part 1 of Article 366 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine), and the entrepreneur is also charged with legalization of funds obtained by criminal means (Part 1 of Article 209 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine).

During the investigation, property of the suspects worth over 1.3 million UAH was seized. Prosecutors have also filed a lawsuit for the recovery of the entire amount of damages incurred.

The pre-trial investigation is being conducted by detectives of the Bureau of Economic Security in the Transcarpathian region, with operational support from the military counterintelligence of the Security Service of Ukraine.

Note: According to Article 62 of the Constitution of Ukraine, a person is presumed innocent of committing a crime and cannot be subjected to criminal punishment until their guilt is proven in a lawful manner and established by a guilty verdict of the court.