Official and contractor to stand trial for embezzlement in Kherson region reconstruction

A case of embezzlement of funds for the restoration of housing after shelling was brought to court in Kherson region. The defendants are the head of the village administration and the director of a contractor.

According to the Center for Public Investigations, prosecutors of the Beryslav District Prosecutor's Office have already sent an indictment against both defendants to the court.

According to the investigation, the officials are involved in embezzlement and misappropriation of budget funds, abuse of office, and entering knowingly false information into official documents. Their actions are classified under Part 4 of Article 191 and Part 1 of Article 366 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine.

Law enforcement officers established that in 2023, the head of the village military administration entered into several contracts with a private enterprise to repair residential buildings damaged by Russian shelling. The work was carried out as part of the state program to restore destroyed housing.

At the same time, the official failed to provide mandatory technical supervision of the construction work. In particular, a certified technical supervision engineer was not involved in the process, which is a direct violation of the law. In fact, this led to a lack of control over the actual scope and quality of the work performed and created conditions for abuse.

After the formal completion of the repairs, the head of the contractor company drew up and submitted certificates of completion with inflated figures and unreliable data. The head of the military administration signed these documents and certified them with the seal of the village council, despite the violations.

Based on these fictitious acts, more than UAH 3 million of budget funds were transferred to the company's accounts. The investigation found that about UAH 300 thousand of this amount was paid unjustifiably - in excess of the actual cost of the work performed.

During the pre-trial investigation, the damages caused to the community were fully compensated. The contracting company returned all the illegally obtained funds to the community budget.

Recently, in Odesa, the director of a contracting company was exposed for misappropriation of funds during the overhaul of residential roofs. The investigation found that after the work was completed, the company director intentionally entered false information in the acceptance certificates.

Анна Бальчінос