Employees of the Main Investigation Department and the Main Directorate of the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) in Kyiv and the region have documented the laundering of proceeds criminally acquired with the help of a number of Ukrainian stock exchanges,
SBU spokesperson Olena Hitlyanska has said.
The officers learnt that during 2017-2018, officials of the stock exchanges, acting through a number of controlled stock traders, representatives of banking institutions, came up with a mechanism to legalize illegal income and transfer funds abroad. Transactions were carried out using controlled non-residents through the purchase of government domestic loan bonds as a so-called group report.
The SBU found out that the suspects, in the absence of control from the stock exchanges, carried out within a short period of time fictitious financial transactions on the purchase of government domestic loan bonds by controlled traders.
The operations were carried out in the interests of individuals; in such a way they obtained legalized income, which, according to the law, is not subject to taxation.
The total amount of laundered money is more than 100m hryvnyas.
The SBU said the investigative measures would continue.
Earlier on 11 October, the SBU searched the offices of a number of stock companies, including PFTS, Ukrainian Exchange, Univer Capital, Univer Management, I-Invest, Master Brock, Navigator-Invest, ART Capital, Opexir Limited, Krinkcliff Enterprises Limited.