BES indicts bank official for facilitating UAH 585 million withdrawal from Ukrtatnafta

Detectives of the Main Detective Unit of the Bureau of Economic Security (BES) of Ukraine have completed a pre-trial investigation and sent to court an indictment against the deputy head of the currency control department of one of the commercial banks, who is accused of facilitating the withdrawal of funds from PJSC Ukrtatnafta in particularly large amounts.

"The investigation established that an organized criminal group withdrew UAH 585 million in equivalent from the company's accounts," BES reported on its website on Monday.

According to the Bureau, on the first day of the Russian Federation's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, a foreign economic contract for the purchase of crude oil was concluded between "Ukrtatnafta" and a non-resident company. Under this contract, Ukrtatnafta officials were to make payments to the accounts of the specified company in order to fulfill their obligations.

"However, realizing that during this period the actual import of raw materials was impossible, they forged the contract and invoices to it, identical to the real documents, imitating the purchase. The main difference was the company that was supposed to supply the raw materials and, accordingly, receive funds for it," BES said.

In turn, the deputy head of the bank's currency control department contributed to the concealment of traces of the criminal offense. To do this, she made handwritten digital entries - dates on the forged contract and on previous invoices (invoices) to it, as if the bank had received such documents before the actual transfer of funds to the foreign account of the controlled company. Based on the forged documents, $20 million was transferred to the address of the controlled enterprise.

BES detectives reported suspicions of a bank official in aiding and abetting the appropriation of property (company funds) through abuse of office, committed by a group of persons in a preliminary conspiracy, under martial law and in particularly large amounts. Currently, the indictment against the official has been sent to court.

"The pre-trial investigation into the others is ongoing," the Bureau noted.

The department recalled that earlier its detectives, together with employees of the Security Service of Ukraine, exposed the fact of the appropriation of UAH 40 billion by the former owners and top management of Ukrnafta and Ukrtatnafta. Within the framework of criminal proceedings, 10 episodes of criminal activity are documented: in particular, the withdrawal of large batches of petroleum products to affiliated companies, tax evasion, and the creation of bad debts of oil refineries, which led to the depreciation and decrease in the value of their assets.

As reported, in total, in the case of the appropriation of Ukrtatnafta funds, detectives of the Main Unit of Detectives of the BES reported suspicion to six individuals. The indictment against one of the participants of the organized group has already been sent to court. The pre-trial investigation is ongoing.

On November 5, 2022, the Headquarters of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine adopted a decision to transfer a share of Ukrtatnafta's corporate rights, owned by private owners, to the state. They are currently managed by the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine. The remaining 43.05% of the company's shares belong to NJSC Naftogaz of Ukraine.