Military counter-intelligence officers from the Security Service of Ukraine have dismantled a scheme to sell medicines to medical facilities and the Defence Forces at artificially inflated prices.
Losses to the state budget exceed 80 million hryvnias, the SSU reported.
During operations in Kyiv and Lviv regions, as well as in Dnipro, law enforcement officers detained four representatives of commercial entities.
The perpetrators bought medicines from manufacturers and importers and then sold them to state-funded medical institutions at prices that significantly exceeded the state-set maximum 10% mark-up.
The price inflation primarily concerned medical supplies for resuscitation, anaesthesiology, intensive care and the treatment of complex infections.
In addition, the perpetrators used affiliated companies to create an artificial tax credit in order to later withdraw cash.
During 16 searches of the suspects’ homes and offices, officers seized documents, computer equipment, mobile phones, bank cards, seals and electronic media containing evidence of the crime.
Four detainees have now been served with notices of suspicion on charges of misappropriation, embezzlement of property or obtaining it through abuse of office, committed on an especially large scale or by an organised group. The court is deciding on a preventive measure in the form of remand in custody.