SBU exposes former Defense Ministry official who wasted 1 billion hryvnia on food purchases for the Armed Forces of Ukraine
Security Service of Ukraine exposed embezzlement of 1 billion hryvnias allocated for the purchase of food products for the Armed Forces of Ukraine in the period from March to December 2022. As established during the investigation, the former head of one of the departments of the Ministry of Defense is involved in the illegal scheme.
In the spring of 2022, while in office, he signed a contract with a private company to supply wholesale batches of food for the Armed Forces. At the same time, the cost of the goods themselves was artificially inflated by 41%, and the costs of organizing logistics by 221%.
The investigation revealed that the official did not conduct a proper verification of the reasonableness of the specified amounts and did not agree on the contract with the relevant structural units of the ministry. This caused significant losses to the state budget. The forensic economic examination conducted at the initiative of the law enforcement officers confirmed the fact of the embezzlement of funds intended for defense needs.
The former official was informed of the suspicion under part. 5th century 191 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine — embezzlement or misappropriation of property by abuse of official position in particularly large amounts.
Currently, the issue of selecting a preventive measure for him is being resolved. If found guilty, he faces up to 12 years in prison with confiscation of property. The investigation continues with the aim of identifying all persons involved in the crime. The complex of investigative actions is conducted under the procedural guidance of the Office of the Prosecutor General.
