Mykolaiv Fire Department Officials Accused of Fraudulent Bonus Scheme

In Mykolaiv region, the head and accountant of the fire department accrued bonuses to non-existent employees. This scheme allowed them to misappropriate a significant amount of money from the budget.

According to the Mykolaiv Regional Prosecutor's Office, the indictment against two officials of the fire and rescue unit of one of the village councils has already been submitted to court.

According to the investigation, between December 2022 and May 2023, the head and chief accountant of the local fire department falsified documents on the employment of eight people who did not actually perform any duties.

The officials entered false information about the working hours, bonuses, and salaries of fictitious employees, and transferred all payments to their personal accounts. The prosecutor's office believes that in this way they caused material damage to the community in excess of UAH 300 thousand.

They are accused of misappropriation of money through abuse of office by prior conspiracy, in large amounts and during martial law. They are also charged with forgery of official documents and entering false information into them.

The defendants face 5 to 8 years in prison with a further ban on holding office or engaging in certain activities for up to three years. The case was investigated by the State Bureau of Investigation in Mykolaiv.

Recently, in Mykolaiv region, law enforcement officers caught the director of a utility company in Voznesensk on bribery. He now faces up to 10 years in prison.

Earlier, the Mykolaiv deputy was served a notice of suspicion of organizing a fraudulent scheme to seize grain and misappropriate UAH 23 million. After the outbreak of hostilities, he illegally seized the cargo, sold it, and to conceal the crime, he filed a statement with the police about the destruction of grain as a result of shelling.

In addition, the SBU blocked the supply of strategic raw materials for the Russian military industry. At the Mykolaiv Alumina Plant, a court seized raw materials worth over UAH 2 billion that belonged to Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska.

Андрій Колісніченко