Mykolaiv-based company organizes financial scheme for tenders at South Ukrainian NPP

A large-scale scheme of embezzlement of budget funds through fictitious companies was exposed in Mykolaiv region. The case involves top managers of the company, a conversion center and millions of cash.

This is stated in the ruling of the South Ukrainian City Court of Mykolaiv Region.

The court granted temporary access to documents within the criminal proceedings on embezzlement of public funds by officials of Yuzhenergobud.

According to the investigation, during 2015-2016, unidentified persons, acting in prior conspiracy with officials of PJSC YUZHENERGOBUD, organized a scheme of non-commodity transactions with a number of companies with signs of fictitiousness. The fictitious companies, including two companies and at least five other companies, were created or purchased to execute fictitious contracts for the supply of goods, including rock mass and crushed stone. These transactions were reflected as real in the PJSC's financial statements, which allowed it to artificially increase production costs.

To make such transactions more plausible, the controlled companies sold products allegedly produced by them, which they themselves had purchased from other controlled companies. The ultimate beneficiary of most of them was the former CEO of Yuzhenergobud.

The investigation also found that the company's officials, including the chief accountant and his deputy, were also involved in the scheme.

One of the organizers of the criminal scheme, according to the investigation, is a resident of Kharkiv, a representative of an interregional conversion and legalization center that served fictitious companies and was involved in cashing out funds. He personally delivered the money to Yuzhnoukrainsk for the needs of the PJSC. During the inspection of the scene, investigators seized more than UAH 5.9 million previously transferred as part of the fraud.

The investigation believes that the company signed an agreement with a division of a state-owned company to implement a project to reconstruct the water supply system for the first three units at the Tashlyk Reservoir for the South Ukrainian NPP.

A former employee of the company, interrogated as a witness, confirmed that in 2016, while working as a foreman, he signed invoices and acts of acceptance of goods that did not actually exist. According to law enforcement officers, the transactions were purely formal and were not accompanied by actual deliveries of goods.

The case is being investigated on the grounds of criminal offenses under Part 2 of Art. 205, Part 2 of Art. 209, Part 3 of Art. 212 and Part 5 of Art. 191 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine - fictitious entrepreneurship, money laundering, tax evasion and embezzlement.

The investigation is ongoing, and law enforcement officers are examining financial documents, contracts and primary accounting records to identify all those involved in the criminal scheme.

Earlier, the court authorized the seizure of documents, including tax invoices and supporting financial statements for 2014-2015, necessary for further examinations. According to the investigation, the companies bought raw materials at UAH 20 per cubic meter and sold them to the customer at UAH 420, which is 20 times more expensive.

Анна Бальчінос