Suspicion notices served to 4 officials of Poltava region mining and processing plant who illegally extracted mineral resources. More than 885 thousand tonnes of products worth UAH 3.5 million have been legalised, - Prosecutor General’s Office. PHOTOS
Under the procedural supervision of the Specialized Environmental Prosecutor's Office of the Prosecutor General's Office, 4 officials of a mining and processing plant in Poltava region were served a notice of suspicion of legalisation of the proceeds of crime, by prior conspiracy of a group of persons, in a particularly large amount (Part 3 of Article 27, Part 3 of Article 209 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine).
This was reported by Censor.NET with reference to the press centre of the Prosecutor General's Office.
How did the scheme work?
According to the investigation, the chairman of the board of the plant, together with his deputy and two heads of the mining department, organised a scheme to legalise minerals that were illegally mined by the company in the absence of a licence.
The extracted rocks were supposed to be stored in specially designated storage facilities, but instead they were processed to produce three different fractions of crushed stone products, which were sold to business entities.
According to the Prosecutor General's Office, in order to make their actions look legitimate, officials entered false information about the results of mineral processing in reporting documents.
"In this way, the suspects legalised more than 885,000 tonnes of crushed stone products and waste rock obtained as a result of illegal mining, totalling UAH 33.5 million," the statement said.
Earlier, the head of the plant was served with a notice of suspicion of illegal mining with environmental damage of over UAH 157 billion.
The suspects have been given a measure of restraint and their property has been seized for further confiscation.
Other persons involved in the commission of the crime are being identified in order to bring them to justice.
