In the Odesa region, cases involving excessive bonuses paid to the director of a cultural center have been referred to court

Prosecutors from the Black Sea District Prosecutor’s Office have referred the case involving the former director of one of the cultural centers in the Odesa District to court.

This was reported by the press service of the Odesa Regional Prosecutor’s Office.

The man is charged with abuse of office, which resulted in serious consequences. The director was detained in May on suspicion that, between 2020 and 2022, he unjustifiably received salary supplements and bonuses that did not comply with the requirements of the law, the terms of his contract, or the company’s financial and operational documents.

Taking advantage of his position, the man systematically issued orders to award himself payments and forwarded them to the accounting department for mandatory execution. Over the entire period of his unlawful activities, the official issued nearly 60 orders awarding bonuses to employees of the cultural center, to which he unlawfully included himself.

It is known that the total amount of illegal payments for the entire period exceeded 700 thousand hryvnias. In addition, 150 thousand hryvnias in unified social tax was unjustifiably calculated and paid on these amounts, resulting in additional unwarranted expenses for the enterprise.

As a result of the defendant’s unlawful actions, the enterprise suffered damages exceeding 850 thousand hryvnias. If his guilt is proven in court, the director of the cultural center faces imprisonment for a term of three to six years, along with disqualification from holding certain positions or engaging in certain activities for up to three years, along with a fine ranging from five hundred to one thousand non-taxable minimum incomes.

Meanwhile, detectives from the Economic Security Bureau in the Odesa region are investigating the abuse of office by the head of the productionand Technical Department of the Capital Construction Directorate of the Odesa City Council during the restoration of the building of the Odesa Center for Children’s and Youth Creativity “Dyvosvit.”

Кирило Бойко