The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) has said that, together with the Prosecutor-General's Office and in cooperation with the Ministry of Defence, it has prevented the embezzlement of public funds allocated for the purchase of artillery shells for the Armed Forces.
As a result of comprehensive measures, the SBU returned almost UAH 1.5 billion to the budget, which had been illegally transferred abroad during the purchase of a wholesale batch of ammunition.
The SBU recalled that the SBU military counterintelligence exposed this deal in December 2023. Then, with the assistance of the ministry of defence leadership, the organiser of the scheme, the head of one of the main directorates of the Ministry of Defence, was detained.
According to the investigation, the official tried to misappropriate budget funds allocated for state procurement for the needs of the Ukrainian military.
To do this, he organised the transfer of almost UAH 1.5 billion from the balance sheet of the Ministry of Defence to the foreign accounts of an affiliated intermediary company for the purchase of artillery shells.
This amount was 30% higher than the cost of another alternative contract concluded by the then newly established Defence Procurement Agency.
SBU investigators have now served the military official a notice of suspicion under Part 2 of Article 28, Part 2 of Article 114-1 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (obstruction of the lawful activities of the Armed Forces and other military formations, committed by prior conspiracy).
The investigation is ongoing to establish all the circumstances of the crime and bring the perpetrators to justice. The offenders face up to 15 years in prison.
The investigation was conducted under the supervision of the Specialised Defence Prosecutor's Office of the Prosecutor-General's Office.
On 23 December 2023, the head of the Defence Ministry's Main Directorate who is suspected of embezzling UAH 1.5 billion was taken into custody. The court imposed a pre-trial restraint in the form of detention without bail.