Traces of oil refining giant's fraud are being searched in Odesa

Police uncovered a large-scale money laundering scheme of an oil refining concern. Almost 50 searches were conducted in Odesa and other cities of Ukraine.

This was reported by the National Police of Ukraine.

Law enforcement officers visited the offices and residences of top managers, as well as representatives of companies with signs of fictitiousness that were used to withdraw money. During the searches, documentation, computer equipment and data storage devices were seized.

Photo: press service of the National Police of Ukraine

According to the investigation, an official of one of the country's largest oil refineries created an organized criminal group, involving his subordinates and a number of entrepreneurs. The companies controlled by the organizers received oil products, did not pay for them, and then "laundered" the funds through fictitious transactions with enterprises of the financial and industrial group.

Photo: Press service of the National Police of Ukraine

Nine defendants, including the former chairman of the concern's board, have already been served with a notice of suspicion of misappropriation of property on a large scale by an organized group. All participants were put on the international wanted list, and the corporate rights of the companies and securities accounts of a French company were seized.

The police emphasized that the investigation is ongoing under the procedural guidance of the Prosecutor General's Office.

After the Center for Public Investigations made a film about Petromol gas stations that were "caught" in illegal construction and tax evasion, in cooperation with Russia, the Investigation Department of the Main Department of the National Police in Odesa region launched a pre-trial investigation in criminal proceedings under Part 3 of Article 197-1 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine. It concerns the construction of structures on an illegally occupied land plot.

Ірина Глухова