The Security Service of Ukraine prevented in Zaporizhzhya an illegal scheme to alienate the land of two state enterprises subordinate to the National Academy of Agrarian Sciences of Ukraine, ProAgro Group reports with reference to information from the press service of the regional department of the SSU.
The criminals intended to “pull off” the scheme by driving a farming enterprise to bankruptcy. According to the investigation, state officials of agricultural enterprises in collusion with the owners of a private company significantly underestimated the amount of crops harvested in 2021 on an area of almost 11 thousand hectares. The margin was sold at market prices, and the proceeds were embezzled.
The “surplus” of the harvest by falsified consignment notes was taken to the partners’ elevator and sold at market prices. According to the experts, the state losses only for the leguminous crops amounted to nearly 3 millionUAH.
During the investigation, the SSU officers established that the representatives of the local organized criminal group were behind the criminal scheme. By “planting” their people in senior positions in state enterprises, the criminals influenced the financial and economic activities of enterprises in order to further embezzle them. To do this, they artificially created accounts payable of state-owned enterprises to a number of fictitious controlled commercial entities. Subsequently, this would make it possible to buy out these agricultural enterprises through front men for next to nothing.
