Court Seizes Apartment for Illegal Mining Causing ₴2.5M Damage

A court in Mykolaiv seized the apartment of a suspect in illegal mining. The suspect caused more than UAH two million in damage to the community where he was engaged in mining.

The investigating judge of the Zavodskyi District Court granted the investigator's motion to seize a share of the suspect's apartment in the illegal mining case.

According to the investigation, between February 19 and August 3, 2020, the company's director organized illegal mining of construction sand in the Oleshky community of Kherson region, violating environmental legislation.

Brass-E, represented by its director, entered into an agreement with Zhilinvest Group for the supply of construction sand. Under the terms of the contract, the depth of extraction was not to exceed two meters, and the supply was to be made under invoices.

However, the director of Bras-E, contrary to environmental legislation, organized illegal sand mining at a greater depth. For this purpose, special equipment was used, and the resulting raw materials were sold to Zhilinvest Group. Such actions violated the terms of the contract and caused damage to the community of Oleshky City Council, as the subsoil was used without permission.

By abusing his official authority, the director personally signed invoices authorizing the sale of illegally extracted resources, receiving an undue benefit. As a result, the community suffered losses in excess of UAH 2.5 million.

Due to the amount of damage caused, the court seized 1/12th of the suspect's apartment, which prohibits its sale and transfer to third parties. The court ruling noted that appealing the decision does not stop its execution.

Recently, an official who misappropriated budget funds allocated for the repair of a shelter was exposed in Mykolaiv region. Instead of controlling the quality of the work performed, he conspired to illegally obtain money.

The businessman was also accused of tax evasion. For four years, he concealed more than UAH 35 million in income. Although his activities were officially registered as auxiliary in the field of crop production, he was actually engaged in the purchase and sale of agricultural products. To avoid taxes, the businessman submitted false information in his reports.

In addition, the court in Mykolaiv extended the procedural obligations of the suspected fraudster. The man seized more than UAH 1.3 million from the company, promising to supply agricultural products that he did not have.

Анна Бальчінос