Participants in a scheme involving fictitious animals were exposed in the Odesa region

In the Odesa region, a government program to support livestock farming has been turned into a source of illegal income. Participants in the scheme registered thousands of fictitious animals under the names of relatives and acquaintances and received government subsidies for them.

Employees of the State Bureau of Investigation (DBR) uncovered a scheme involving the illegal receipt of government subsidies for livestock care. According to preliminary estimates, the participants in the scheme embezzled nearly 3.8 million hryvnias. The suspects entered data on nearly 2,000 animals into the state registry that did not actually exist.

According to the investigation, three employees of agencies responsible for animal accounting and registration in the Odesa region were involved in the scheme. They used their official access to the registries to create fictitious livestock records.

To obtain subsidies, they enlisted relatives and acquaintances in the scheme, registering hundreds of fictitious animals in their names. The participants in the scheme divided the proceeds among themselves.

During searches, officers from the State Bureau of Investigation (DBR) seized thousands of identification tags used to mark animals, as well as documents confirming the entry of false information into the state registry.

Currently, seven participants in the scheme have been notified of the charges against them. Among them are an official from the Odessa branch of the State Enterprise “Agency for Animal Identification and Registration,” a senior veterinarian, a veterinary technician, and four other individuals.

The suspects have been charged with abuse of office, official forgery, fraud, attempted fraud, receiving unlawful benefits, and aiding and abetting official forgery.

One of the suspects attempted to leave the country after being notified of the charges, but she was stopped at a border crossing and her passport was confiscated. Four suspects were remanded in custody with the option of posting bail set at 2 million hryvnias.

This is not the first scheme involving fictitious livestock numbers. As Intent reported, the State Bureau of Investigation (DBR) believes that Lyudmyla Belunina, acting head of the Tarutyn Veterinary Hospital, entered false data into the state registry regarding the alleged presence of sheep and goats. She may have been assisted by farmer Volodymyr Hrek, who recruited people for the scheme. 

Анна Бальчінос