Law enforcers expose charity scheme in Mykolaiv

Police have exposed the head of a charitable organization for illegally selling humanitarian generators that were supposed to go to the military. She faces up to seven years in prison, and an investigation into the involvement of others is underway.

This was reported by the press service of the National Police in Mykolaiv region.

A resident of Nova Odesa, receiving generators as humanitarian aid for the military from international charitable organizations, sold them online. The police have now detained the woman and served her with a notice of suspicion, she faces up to seven years in prison.

Law enforcement officers found out that under the guise of charity, the 46-year-old head of a charity organization organized an illegal business: she did not hand over the received humanitarian aid generators to the military or local residents, but sold them through online platforms at prices significantly below market prices.

The police detained her immediately after she sold one generator for 300 thousand hryvnias, although its market value exceeded 630 thousand.

During the searches, they seized 17 foreign-made generators, household appliances, medical equipment, cell phones, documents and money.

The woman was served a notice of suspicion under Part 3 of Article 201-2 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine - illegal sale of humanitarian aid for the purpose of enrichment on a large scale, committed by prior conspiracy during martial law. The sanction of the article provides for up to seven years in prison.

The court imposed on the suspect a pre-trial restraint in the form of custody with the possibility of bail in the amount of almost one million hryvnias. Law enforcement officers continue to identify other participants in the crime, and the pre-trial investigation is ongoing.

At the end of June, law enforcement officers in Odesa region detained a 36-year-old resident of Berezivskyi district who is suspected of trying to bribe a serviceman to misappropriate a portion of the charity aid for the Armed Forces. The detainee handed over to the military unit medical supplies worth about UAH 80,000, purchased for charity from the company where he used to work. However, he asked the military officer to temporarily not register this aid on the unit's balance sheet.

Анна Бальчінос