BES announces new suspicions to Odesa city council deputy and her accomplices

The BES has announced new suspicions to a deputy of the Odesa City Council and six of her accomplices in the case of embezzlement of budget funds. The scheme involved the overstatement of data on the assistance provided for programs to combat HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and drug addiction.

This was reported by the press service of the BES in Odesa region.

Detectives of the Territorial Department of the Bureau of Economic Security in Odesa region reported new suspicions in criminal proceedings regarding the misappropriation of funds allocated for the program to combat HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, hepatitis and drug addiction.

According to the investigation, the MP, along with six accomplices, organized a scheme to misappropriate UAH 2.2 million. The scheme involved officials of the Center for HIV/AIDS Prevention and Control, an employee of the Department of Health, and several individual entrepreneurs, including the MP's relatives and the director of a municipal enterprise that works with drug addicts.

According to Serhii Muntyan, Head of the Territorial Department of the BES in Odesa Oblast, the scheme participants received UAH 7.5 million of budget funds and submitted fictitious acts: they overstated the number of people who received assistance, indicated services that were not actually provided, and entered false information about the nutrition of patients, which was allegedly provided by a relative of the MP. According to the conclusions of the analytical study and economic expertise, the losses to the budget exceeded UAH 2 million.

The seven defendants were served new suspicion notices under Part 3 of Article 28, Part 1 of Article 366, Part 3 of Article 209 and Part 5 of Article 191 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine. The court seized their real estate and vehicles. The pre-trial investigation is currently underway.

Last year, the BES conducted searches in the offices of the Odesa City Council Medical Center and in the premises belonging to the deputy. Intent asked the BES for a comment, but they limited their response to a statement that investigative actions were underway, without disclosing details.

According to journalist Iryna Hryb, the BES employees visited Odesa City Council member Iryna Kutsenko and the Center for HIV/AIDS Prevention and Control. Due to the absence of participants in the tender procedure, they signed contracts with a controlled individual entrepreneur to use the budget funds.

Allegedly, the money, more than UAH 7 million, was intended for the rehabilitation of non-existent drug addicts. It turned out that local officials could receive up to 15% kickbacks for lobbying the interests of certain entrepreneurs.

Анна Бальчінос