Court sentences FSW official after Intent's publication on booking scheme in Odesa

In Odesa, a court sentenced Yuriy Gulla, head of production site No. 1 of the Porto-Frankivsk Housing and Communal Services, in a case of fictitious employment at a utility company. As Intent and the Center for Public Investigations found out last fall, dozens of men avoided mobilization through this scheme, while the budget suffered financial losses.

This was reported by the Center for Public Investigations.

According to the investigation, the official did not act independently, but in collusion with the company's managers and employees. Law enforcement officers found that from February 2024 to July 2025, the utility company operated a scheme for fictitious employment of at least 15 people. They were listed in the documents as cleaners and locksmiths, although they did not actually perform the work.

According to the prosecution, Yuriy Gullia regularly entered false information into the time sheets. Later, these documents were used by the accounting department to calculate wages and social contributions. The case file documents dozens of such cases between February 2024 and June 2025.

The investigation has estimated that over UAH 2.03 million in salaries and over UAH 447 thousand in unified social tax were illegally paid during the scheme. The total amount of damage caused to the Municipal Utility Company "Housing and Communal Services "Porto-Frankivsk" and the budget of the Odesa community was estimated at UAH 2.48 million.

During the trial, Gullia pleaded guilty, confirmed the circumstances set out in the case, and expressed remorse. He also entered into a plea agreement with the prosecutor. The court took into account that the defendant cooperated with the investigation, provided evidence about other possible participants in the scheme, partially compensated for the losses and transferred charitable assistance to support the Ukrainian Defense Forces.

According to the court's decision, the official was sentenced to three years in prison, deprived of the right to hold office, and fined UAH 17,000. At the same time, the court imposed a probationary period of three years on him. He was also ordered to pay almost UAH 25,000 in expenses for expert examinations.

The investigation into other possible defendants in the case - managers and employees of the Porto-Frankivsk Housing and Communal Services Company - is ongoing in a separate criminal proceeding.

As previously reported by Intent, during the investigation, law enforcement officers conducted dozens of searches, seized bank cards, cell phones and draft documentation. Investigators also questioned more than a hundred witnesses, most of whom confirmed that the "employees" did not actually perform any work duties.

Separately, the investigation received evidence in the form of correspondence and telephone conversations between the participants of the scheme, which testify to its organized nature and an agreed mechanism for avoiding mobilization. Data from mobile operators also showed that the registered employees were not at their workplaces during working hours.

Last year, Intent and the Center for Public Investigations found that even after criminal proceedings were opened, the status of critical enterprises was renewed for some FSOs whose management was under investigation.

Анна Бальчінос