Participant of MP's scheme with social assistance fired in Odesa region

In Odesa region, the court terminated the case against a woman suspected of facilitating the illegal processing of social benefits through an organized scheme. According to the investigation, as a result of fraud with state aid, she illegally received almost UAH 70 thousand from the budget.

This was reported by the Center for Public Investigations.

The investigation found that in 2014, a resident of Ovidiopol joined a scheme allegedly organized by a local council member. According to law enforcement officers, the group issued social benefits to people who had no legal right to receive them, and the participants transferred part of the money to the organizer.

The woman provided copies of her documents for the application, despite the lack of grounds for receiving it. Later, according to the investigation, social security workers entered false information into the electronic system and issued payments to her.

Between 2014 and 2016, the accused received about 70 thousand hryvnias of social assistance. According to the case, she transferred part of the money to the organizer in cash or transferred it to bank cards specified by him.

The scheme consisted of fictitiously applying for low-income family benefits for people who were not actually entitled to payments. To do this, the organizer found people who were willing to provide their documents and formally become recipients of assistance.

The court concluded that the incriminated crime was of medium gravity, and the time limit for prosecution had already expired. The prosecutor did not object to the closure of the case, and the accused agreed to be released from liability due to the expiration of the statute of limitations.

As Intent wrote, the organizer of the scheme was a deputy of the Ovidiopol District Council, Yuriy Nikitinsky. Investigators believed that it was he who coordinated the mechanism of misappropriation of budget funds.

The case also involved the former head of the social security department of the Ovidiopol District State Administration, Oleksandr Riabokon, and former employees of the department Svitlana Andriushkova and Iryna Artiomova. In total, the proceedings concerned 30 participants.

Анна Бальчінос