"Aviakon case" sent to court
Pre-trial investigation of the criminal proceeding as of the facts of causing losses to the State Enterprise (SE) “Konotop Aircraft Repair Plant “Aviakon” (hereinafter – "Aviakon") completed. On July 19, 2019, the prosecutors of the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor`s Office sent an indictment as of three persons to Konotopsky City and District Court of Sumy Region.
Among the suspects, there are:
- ex-Director of the SE "Aviakon" (Part 2 Article 364 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine);
- ex-Deputy Director of the SE "Aviakon" (Part 2 Article 364 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine);
- commercial director of a private company registered in offshore jurisdiction (Saint Kitts and Nevis) (Part 5 Article 27 Part 2 Article 364 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine).
The NABU Detectives found out that in March 2014, officials of the SE "Aviakon" signed an agreement with a private company Westan Group Associates Ltd, registered on the Caribbean Islands (Charlestown, Saint Kitts and Nevis). The agreement provided supplying of 12 fuel tanks for helicopters for a total amount of 288 thousand USD.
Then, as the investigation revealed, Westan Group Associates Ltd signed an agreement with the Georgian company for manufacturing of 12 fuel tanks, but at half of the price — 144 thousand USD.
According to a similar scheme in May of the same year, "Aviakon" and Westan Group Associates Ltd signed one more agreement. According to it, the same Georgian manufacturer supplied the SE with 85 fuel tanks at an inflated price — 2.04 million USD (the same fuel tanks were purchased by Westan Group Associates Ltd in a Georgian manufacturer for a price of 1.02 million USD).
Because of such actions, the State Enterprise "Aviakon", according to the NABU Detectives, unreasonably overpaid 13.03 million UAH to offshore jurisdictions.
Pre-trial investigation of the abovementioned facts the NABU Detectives started in 2016.
In March, the pre-trial investigation as of these persons completed.
Infographic in HQ: https://www.flickr.com/photos/nab_ukr/45286145704/
According to Article 62 of the Constitution of Ukraine a person is considered not-guilty in commission of crime and cannot be a subject to criminal punishment, until he or she is found guilty by the court.
According to Article 62 of the Constitution of Ukraine, a person is considered not-guilty in the commission of a crime and cannot be subject to criminal punishment until he or she is found guilty by court.