Illegal mining of kaolin worth 408 million hryvnias: four people to stand trial, - National Police. PHOTOS

Law enforcers have completed a pre-trial investigation into the case against the heads of a group of companies that illegally extracted kaolin at a deposit in Dnipropetrovsk region despite the cancellation of special permits.

This was reported by Censor.NET with reference to the Communications Department of the National Police.

According to the investigation, the criminals illegally extracted almost 345,000 tonnes of kaolin, which they sold on the domestic market and abroad, including to Russia. The total amount of losses is over UAH 408 million.

Part of the proceeds - more than UAH 280 million - was invested in the company's own business, and the rest was spent on buying real estate, cars and other material goods.

The indictment against four members of the organised criminal group has already been sent to court. They are charged with legalisation of the proceeds of crime (Article 209 of the Criminal Code) and violation of the rules of subsoil protection (Article 240 of the Criminal Code). They face up to 12 years in prison with confiscation of property.