Fictitious works and a missing director: Mykolaiv region exposes hospital embezzlement scheme

Law enforcement officers exposed a scheme to embezzle budget funds during the reconstruction of a polyclinic in Bereznehuvate, Mykolaiv region. According to the investigation, the former director of the contractor misappropriated almost UAH 5 million.

This is evidenced by the ruling of the Novobuzkyi District Court.

According to the pre-trial investigation, in 2019, the Bereznehuvata Central District Hospital and Juventa Group Ukraine LLC signed a contract for the reconstruction of the polyclinic worth more than UAH 15.5 million. The contractor received an advance payment of almost UAH 4 million for the purchase of materials.

However, according to the investigation, the director of the company did not purchase the necessary materials and did not actually perform the work, but instead disposed of the funds at his own discretion. To conceal this, he allegedly forged official documents, such as certificates of completion and certificates of value, which were signed by the customer.

In addition, the suspect entered into a custodial agreement for non-existent materials, convincing the hospital management of their alleged availability. Subsequently, according to the investigation, he also overstated the cost of the work by more than UAH 480 thousand.

In total, these actions caused the hospital to suffer losses of more than UAH 4.9 million. The investigation also found that in September 2022, the suspect left Ukraine and did not return.

The court granted the investigator's motion and imposed a custodial measure of restraint on him. After his detention, the man is to be brought to court no later than 48 hours later to confirm or change the measure of restraint.

If found guilty, he faces 7 to 12 years in prison with confiscation of property.

The director of Juventa-Group Ukraine in Mykolaiv region was suspected of embezzling almost UAH 5 million during the renovation of a hospital facade back in October last year. He was accused of overstating the scope of work and entering false data in the certificates of completion.

Анна Бальчінос