SBI suspects military unit's food service manager of supplying rotten vegetables and fruits for soldiers

Employees of the State Bureau of Investigation (SBI) have exposed and blocked a large-scale corruption scheme during the supply of food for combat units of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in the Dnipropetrovsk region.

"According to the investigation, the organizer of the transaction was the head of the food service of one of the military units. He acted in collusion with the founder and commercial director of the enterprise supplying food to the Armed Forces of Ukraine," the SBI website said in a statement on Monday.

According to the agency, the essence of the scheme was so-called non-commodity transactions.

"Officials signed acceptance and transfer certificates for the full volume of products, while in fact only part of it was delivered to the military units. The rest of the products were written off through controlled persons," the Bureau noted.

In addition to underdeliveries, as the agency specifies, the quality of the actually imported products did not meet the established requirements.

"In particular, rotten vegetables and fruits were supplied to the servicemen, including for units that performed tasks in active areas of the front," the SBI emphasized.

According to the report, for accepting low-quality products and not sending complaint letters, the head of the food service received an illegal cash benefit.

"The amount of kickbacks reached up to 50% of the cost of supplies. In just one week, the amount of illegal payments could exceed UAH 1 million," the report states.

According to the SBI, the defendant used the funds received for personal enrichment: he purchased real estate in two residential complexes, purchased several premium cars and other expensive items, registering the property in the names of close relatives.

During the searches, cars, documents for luxury real estate, a collection of branded clothing, shoes and accessories with an estimated value of over UAH 8 million, as well as promissory notes for $120,000 were seized from the suspect.

The head of the food service was detained and reported on suspicion under Part 3 of Article 190 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (fraud), Part 2 of Article 368 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (receiving an illegal benefit by an official) and Part 4 of Article 409 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (evasion of military service under martial law).

His subordinate from the food service of the logistics rear was also reported on suspicion. According to the investigation, she received cash from suppliers for writing off low-quality products and transferred part of the funds to the head.

The Dnipro Specialized Prosecutor’s Office in the Field of Defense of the Eastern Region is responsible for the procedural management.