Director of the company suspected of misappropriation of funds for reconstruction of housing in Kherson region

The Court of Appeal considered the prosecutor's appeal against the judge's decision to order the CEO of a construction company to be personally liable. He is suspected of embezzling budget funds allocated for the restoration of housing damaged during the hostilities in Kherson region.

This was reported by the Center for Public Investigations.

The scheme of embezzlement

According to the investigation, in August-November 2023, the director of Prometheus LLC entered into 11 contracts with the Velyko Oleksandrivka Village Council for the overhaul of private houses as part of the program to restore housing destroyed or damaged by Russian military aggression.

The cost of each object ranged from 220 to 370 thousand hryvnias. Payment for the work was made from the local budget on the basis of acceptance certificates and certificates of value prepared by the contractor and submitted for signature to the client.

Law enforcement officers found that the director deliberately entered false information in these documents, overstating the scope of work and its cost. The total amount of overstatements, according to law enforcement estimates, amounted to UAH 285,050. According to the investigation, these funds were illegally transferred to the company's account and used by the director at his own discretion.

Witness statements

The financial director of Prometheus LLC confirmed that the company had entered into contracts with the village council to repair housing damaged by the war. A subcontractor, an individual entrepreneur (IE), was hired to perform the work. At the same time, no contracts for technical supervision were concluded. The design and estimate documentation and certificates of completion were drawn up by representatives of the LLC together with the subcontractor. According to the financial director, the village council sent letters demanding a refund because of the overestimation of the cost of the work, but the company did not recognize the violations and did not return the money.

The subcontractor, who also testified, said she had registered as an individual entrepreneur in September 2023 and received an offer of cooperation from a friend of the director of Prometheus LLC. She hired three employees to perform the work, who worked from September to December 2023. According to her, all materials were provided by the contractor, and she did not visit the sites and did not participate in the acceptance of the work. The subcontractor admitted to some accidental overstatements of the scope of work, but denied other violations noted by the auditors.

However, three construction workers whom she identified as her employees denied knowing her and denied having performed any work in Velyka Oleksandrivka.

Another witness explained that in 2023, he and his team carried out repair work in the village under a verbal agreement with a representative of Prometheus LLC. He was given a list of objects separately. Upon completion of the work, no one officially accepted it - he simply sent photos of the work done, after which he received payment in cash.

The decision of the court of appeal

Initially, the judge imposed a measure of restraint on the director in the form of a personal commitment with procedural obligations. The prosecutor appealed, insisting on a bail of UAH 90,840 and obligations. However, the court partially upheld the appeal: the decision on personal obligation was canceled, but bail was denied, as the deadline for its application had already expired at the time of the appeal.

Also in February, in Kherson, the court seized the property of the head of a contracting company. He is suspected of misappropriating budget funds while working at a perinatal center.

Анна Бальчінос