Officials and businessmen organized a scam for more than 15 million at traffic lights

Officials of Odesa City Council together with business organized a criminal scheme to purchase equipment for traffic lights, which resulted in the loss of more than UAH 15 million to the community budget.

According to the Bureau of Economic Security of Ukraine, detectives found that officials of three private companies acted in collusion with employees of a municipal institution responsible for road safety. They developed and implemented a fraudulent scheme to embezzle budget funds.

"During 2024, a utility company of the Odesa City Council conducted 11 procurement procedures for the supply of ballasts for discharge lamps and tubes. The total value of the concluded agreements amounted to almost UAH 40.9 million," the statement said.

All tenders, according to the BES, were won by two companies that, as it turned out, were not involved in the production of uninterruptible power supplies for traffic light facilities. In fact, the equipment was manufactured by a third company, and the winners of the tenders were used as a gasket to artificially inflate the cost of the supply by more than five times.

"In fact, the equipment was manufactured by another company, and the winners of the tender were used to artificially inflate the cost of the products by more than 5 times. Thus, the participants of the fraud inflicted more than UAH 15 million in losses to the budget," said Serhii Muntyan, Head of the BES in Odesa region.

The pre-trial investigation is ongoing. Law enforcement officers are identifying the full range of persons involved in the illegal activity.

Recently, law enforcement officers exposed officials of the City Council and employees of one of Odesa's utility companies and local entrepreneurs who, according to the investigation, overcharged for the installation of tombstones and burial grounds for the military from 2023 to 2024.

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