Over 100 million hryvnias were embezzled from military procurement. The State Bureau of Investigation has uncovered the criminal gang.

Officials from the Housing and Utilities Department of Luhansk and their accomplices have been exposed for embezzling over 101 million hryvnias in fraudulent purchases of fuel wood for the needs of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU).

This was reported by RBK-Ukraine citing the Telegram channel of the State Bureau of Investigations (SBI).

What Happened

The scheme was organized by the former head of the Housing and Utilities Department of Luhansk. He involved:

• two current officials from a unit stationed in Dnipro;
• a former employee of the Housing and Utilities Department;
• a private entrepreneur.

The scheme participants arranged the purchase of fuel wood for the AFU at inflated prices, without open tenders and through contracts with indirect suppliers.

Photo: The SBI uncovered officials who stole over 100 million hryvnias in military procurement (t.me/DBRgovua)

"Purchases were made through individual entrepreneurs, whose accounts were fully controlled by the scheme participants. In total, SBI agents identified 35 individual entrepreneurs whose accounts were involved in the transaction. There were 47 instances of purchases at inflated prices. The total damage to the state exceeds 101 million UAH," the SBI reports.

What’s at Stake

Five participants have been informed of suspicion for embezzling someone else's property by abusing their official position, committed repeatedly under martial law, on a particularly large scale, and as part of an organized group.

The suspects face up to 12 years in prison.

Recall that RBK-Ukraine previously reported that the SBI recently uncovered a deputy from one of the city councils in the Kirovohrad region in a scheme involving the procurement of low-quality clothing for Ukrainian soldiers.