A case involving the fraudulent provision of meals to children has been referred to court in the Mykolaiv region

In the Mykolaiv region, officials from the Department of Education and their accomplice will stand trial on charges of embezzling more than half a million hryvnias in public funds. According to investigators, they falsified records of food deliveries to schools and kindergartens that were closed during the war.

This was reported by the Mykolaiv Regional Prosecutor’s Office. 

To ensure compensation for the damages caused, the defendants’ property has been seized.

The investigation established that the head of the Department of Education, Youth, and Sports of the Kazankivka Village Council, acting in collusion with the chief accountant of the same department and with the assistance of a local resident, organized a scheme to embezzle budget funds.

In particular, as noted by the prosecutor’s office, between May and December 2022, the Department of Education and a business owner entered into a series of contracts for the supply of food to the community’s educational institutions. However, no actual deliveries of goods took place, as schools were conducting remote learning and kindergartens were closed due to hostilities.

To create the appearance that the contracts were being fulfilled, a local resident—who was actually handling the entrepreneur’s accounting and reporting—prepared and signed primary accounting documents for the allegedly delivered food products. These documents were then submitted to the Department of Education as the basis for payment.

The head of the Department of Education and the chief accountant signed these documents and ensured that funds were transferred to the entrepreneur’s account. As a result, more than half a million hryvnias in budget funds were unjustifiably spent from the Department of Education’s account.

Юлія Калабайда