A scheme involving the theft of vegetable oil and solar panels was uncovered in the Odesa region

A 35-year-old resident of Izmail has been charged with organizing a scheme involving fictitious shipments and embezzling cargo worth nearly seven million hryvnias. The court remanded the suspect in custody with bail set at over 3 million hryvnias.

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

The bail has not yet been posted.

According to the case file, in the spring of 2025, the man posed as a representative of a transportation company. Using forged documents, he responded to an ad on an online platform for finding carriers. 

In this way, the man was able to transport nearly 63 metric tons of sunflower oil, valued at over 2.2 million hryvnias. After loading the cargo, he changed the route and directed the drivers to remote locations, where he took possession of the cargo.

The suspect carried out a similar scheme in September 2025. He found a client to transport solar panels. In this way, he obtained and embezzled nearly 700 solar panels worth over 4.6 million hryvnias.

As previously reported by Intent, law enforcement officials in the Odesa region are investigating the possible embezzlement or misappropriation of public funds during the construction of a rooftop solar power plant.

According to the investigation, the client procured construction services for a rooftop solar power plant without using an electronic procurement system. Law enforcement officials determined that the cost estimate did not include specific provisions for risks and inflation, and that the bulk of the procurement cost was attributable to the equipment itself. According to the investigation, this creates the risk of artificially inflating the price through fictitious or formal business transactions.

Юлія Калабайда