The Detectives of the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) under the procedural guidance of the Prosecutors of the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor`s Office (SAPO) exposed a criminal group of five persons, who organized a corrupt scheme of purchasing uninhabitable apartments for the National Guard of Ukraine (NGU) members.
Among the suspects, there are:
- the beneficial owner of LLC;
- the Head of the Financial Department of the Department of Accommodation and Capital Construction of Logistics of the NGU;
- the Head of the Department of Accommodation and Capital Construction of Logistics of the NGU;
- the Director of the company-winner of tender;
- the lawyer, representative of the Director LLC.
The suspects also involved the Head of the Department of Accommodation and Capital Construction of Logistics of the NGU to commit a crime. However, the investigation revealed that this person was not a member of the group.
According to the NABU Detectives, the state budget of Ukraine for 2017 provided for the direction of more than UAH 85.94 mln for the purchase of apartments for NGU members.
The beneficial owner of a number of legal entities had a criminal plan to seize funds of the NGU. He involved the NGU officials (members of the tender commission for the purchase of housing for NGU members) and commercial companies under his control in the implementation of the criminal plan.
The abovementioned persons determined the need to purchase the maximum number of apartments in the territory of Kyiv Oblast, where the apartments of the LLC were located.
After that, the abovementioned persons ensured the participation of the LLC in the tender for the purchase of appartments. They falsified the documents in order to create a misconception of the members of the tender commission, not involved in the commission of the crime, about the compliance of the claimed apartments with the conditions of the tender.
Thus, the documents stated that the apartments were allegedly ready to move in, but in fact, the utilities for the supply of utilities were not connected, and the finishing work was only partially completed. The examination confirmed the unsuitability of this property for living.
After the LLC won the tender, the NGU signed agreements on the purchase of apartments, despite the fact that the apartments did not meet the requirements, which the group members were aware of. According to signed agreements and acts of acceptance and transfer of apartments in 2017, the NGU transferred more than UAH 17.3 mln of budget funds to the account of the company-winner of tender. The specified amount, according to the conclusions of the examinations, is the amount of damages caused to the state budget.
The NABU Detectives started a pre-trial investigation as of these facts in February 2020 after the transfer of materials from the National Police to NABU.
NABU and SAPO collected additional evidence, identified new participants and established that a group organized by the owner of private companies committed the crime. This group included the Head of Department of Accommodation and Capital Construction of Logistics of the NGU.
On July 20-21, 2020, these two persons were given notices of suspicion in accordance with Article 135, Article 278 of the Criminal Procedure Code of Ukraine. Their location is being established.
On July 21-23, 2020, other participants of the scheme were given notices of suspicion. On July 24, 2020, the suspects and their defense had been granted with access to the materials of the investigation. Then the indictment will be drawn up and sent to the High Anti-Corruption Court.
The actions of the group members are qualified as follows:
- the beneficial owner of LLC (Part 5 Article 191, Part 2 Article 28, Part 2 Article 366 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine);
- the Head of the Financial Department of the Department of Accommodation and Capital Construction of Logistics of the NGU (Part 5 Article 191, Part 2 Article 28 - Part 2 Article 366 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine);
- the Head of the Department of Accommodation and Capital Construction of Logistics of the NGU (Part 5 Article 191, Part 2 Article 28 - Part 2 Article 366 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine);
- the Director of the company-winner of tender (Part 5 Article 27, Part 5 Article 191, Part 2 Article 28 - Part 2 Article 366 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine);
- the lawyer, representative of the Director LLC (Part 2 Article 28 - Part 2 Article 366, Part 5 Article 191 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine).
On July 24, 2020, the pre-trial investigation as of the Head of the Department of Accommodation and Capital Construction of Logistics of the NGU was completed.
According to Part 1 Article 62 of the Constitution of Ukraine a person is considered not-guilty in commission of a crime and cannot be a subject to criminal punishment, until he or she is found guilty by the court.