Kherson company owner loses house due to corruption during school renovation

A court in Kherson has seized part of a company director's house in a case of embezzlement of funds for school repairs. The man is suspected of misappropriation of city budget funds and forgery.

This is evidenced by the decision of the Kherson City Court.

The court partially granted the prosecutor's request in the case of embezzlement of city budget funds allocated for the repair of a school in Kherson. The director of the company, who signed a contract for the overhaul of the roof of the gymnasium, is suspected of forgery and misappropriation of property on a large scale.

According to the investigation, in 2019, Khimekoprom won a tender for the overhaul of the roof of gymnasium No. 56 in Kherson. The cost of the contract was over UAH 6.6 million.

The owner of the company entered into an agreement with the Education Department of the city council and undertook to carry out the repairs. However, according to the expert's findings, he did not perform some of the work, and the contractor entered deliberately false information in the acceptance certificates. This allowed the cost of repairs to be overstated by more than UAH 1 million.

In August 2025, the director of the company was served a notice of suspicion of misappropriation of property on a large scale (Article 191(5) of the Criminal Code of Ukraine) and forgery (Article 366(2) of the Criminal Code of Ukraine). Since his whereabouts have not yet been established, notices of suspicion and summonses were published in official sources.

The prosecutor's office asked the court to seize the suspect's property: half of a residential building in Kherson and bank accounts. The court agreed only partially - the seizure was imposed on an 85.5-square-meter apartment, prohibiting the owner from disposing of it. The court dismissed the rest of the claims, including the seizure of the accounts.

The investigation found that the company's CEO had deliberately entered false information into five acts of work performed, creating the appearance of repairs. At the end of August, law enforcement officers notified him of suspicion of misappropriation of property and knowingly entering false information into official documents.

If the director's guilt is proven, he faces 7 to 12 years in prison with confiscation of property and a ban on holding managerial positions.

Анна Літман