Under the procedural guidance of prosecutors from the Office of the Attorney General, officials from the Odesa City Council and leaders of private enterprises have been exposed and detained for organizing a scheme to misappropriate budget funds of the territorial community of the city of Odesa.

According to the investigation, the former director of the municipal security department of the Odesa City Council and his first deputy, acting in collusion with the leaders of several private enterprises, unjustifiably included the amount of value-added tax in the contract price for the supply of goods for the needs of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. These operations are exempt from VAT taxation under the law, therefore, the officials unjustifiably inflated the contract price and misappropriated over 1.6 million UAH of the community's budget funds.

On October 31, 2025, law enforcement conducted 12 searches in the city of Odesa, as well as in the Odesa and Kyiv regions – at the places of residence, in the offices of private companies, and in the municipal security department of the Odesa City Council.

As a result of the investigative actions, four former officials of the city council and leaders of private enterprises have been notified of suspicion of committing a crime under Part 5 of Article 191 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (embezzlement, misappropriation, or acquisition of someone else's property in especially large amounts by abusing official position).

Currently, the issue of choosing a preventive measure in the form of detention for the suspects is being resolved.

The pre-trial investigation is being conducted by the Main Investigative Department of the National Police of Ukraine under the procedural guidance of prosecutors from the Office of the Attorney General with operational support from the Security Service of Ukraine in the Odesa region.

Note: according to Article 62 of the Constitution of Ukraine, a person is considered innocent of committing a crime until their guilt is proven in a lawful manner and established by a guilty verdict of the court.