Grain worth 800 thousand dollars: how a cargo from Mykolaiv region disappeared on the way to export

In Mykolaiv, a court heard a case regarding the possible misappropriation of a shipment of soybeans that was to be exported under an international contract worth about $2 million. Instead of being delivered to the buyer, more than 1,500 tons of products actually disappeared.

This was reported by the Center for Public Investigations.

According to the investigation, between February and September 2022, the accused allegedly seized more than 1,500 tons of soybeans that had already been loaded onto the SKYMOON 1 vessel near one of the ports. The value of this shipment at the time exceeded USD 800 thousand. The law enforcement officers believed that the grain belonging to the injured party was taken out of its control by fraud and breach of trust, and then disposed of at its own discretion.

The story began with a commercial transaction: in early 2022, the soybean owner found a foreign buyer and planned to sell about 3,000 tons of products at a price of $620 per ton. To fulfill the contract, she engaged an exporter, SAMGA, which formally acted as a seller on the foreign market, submitted documents for customs clearance and was responsible for financial settlements.

For logistics and transportation, another contractor was engaged to accept the soybeans, record their volume and quality, and ensure that they were loaded onto the ship. In general, the scheme corresponded to a typical agricultural export chain: owner - exporter - logistics contractor - foreign buyer. At the same time, according to law enforcement, it was at this stage that the actual seizure of the goods took place.

The key element of the case was the documents confirming the origin of the soybeans. The court materials mentioned an exporter's certificate stating that the products were allegedly purchased from a specific agricultural producer. At the same time, there was another version of the document with the same details, but without specifying the supplier. In addition, there was no convincing evidence in the case that it was the injured party that purchased the soybeans or transferred them to the exporter, which raised doubts about the origin of the goods and the role of individual participants.

This was the basis of the defense's position. The lawyers emphasized that without documents on the origin of the grain and its transfer, it was impossible to unequivocally establish who exactly owned the soybeans at the time of export. They also suggested that the exporting company could have performed a purely formal function and been used as a tool in the scheme.

In this regard, the defense initiated an application for access to financial and customs documents, including tax returns, bank accounts and customs declarations. The court granted the motion. It was not only about the customs clearance of a particular shipment of soybeans, but also about the exporter's overall financial activities.

Separately, they requested data on the victim's income for previous years, which was supposed to indicate a check of her financial capacity to carry out such transactions. At the same time, a civil lawsuit was filed in the proceedings: the injured party demanded compensation of over UAH 34 million in material damage, as well as compensation for non-pecuniary damage and legal fees.

Also in Mykolaiv, law enforcement officers investigated a tax evasion scheme involving grain exports, a network of offices in different cities and accounting abroad.

Анна Бальчінос