Laundering of over 11 million hryvnias obtained from appropriation of electricity from state-owned enterprise: criminal group exposed, - National Police. PHOTOS
A criminal group whose members laundered money through fictitious companies was exposed. Officials of one of these companies received multimillion-dollar funds from the end consumer of electricity, which, after partial payment to the state-owned enterprise for the electricity supplied to the consumer, were transferred to the accounts of other controlled companies and distributed among the participants in the transaction.
This was reported by the National Police of Ukraine, Censor.NET reports.
As noted, as a result of such actions, the state-owned enterprise suffered losses of more than UAH 39 million.
How the scheme worked
To make the illegally obtained funds look legitimate, the criminals created fictitious companies through which they conducted fake non-cash transactions. On paper, these companies allegedly bought or sold goods and/or services to each other, although they did not carry out any real activities.
It is reported that the criminals transferred over UAH 11.5 million through the accounts of such companies, legalising part of the proceeds of crime. They cashed part of these funds, and spent the rest through a network of other fictitious companies to purchase luxury goods and their own needs.
Detection of the offenders
The scheme was uncovered by investigators of the Main Investigation Department of the National Police with the operational support of the Strategic Investigations Department. The investigators identified the entire criminal group - lawyers, accountants, registrars and persons specialising in state registration of business entities.
Distribution of "tasks" in the group
Thus, the participants acted by prior conspiracy and had a clear division of roles.
- The organiser was looking for people who agreed to formally become founders or directors of the companies.
- Other participants were involved in preparing documents and registering companies.
- Accountants ensured that fictitious financial transactions were carried out between the controlled companies.
Conducting searches
The police conducted a series of searches at the residences and cars of the defendants.
During the investigation, the SSU seized documents, computer equipment, mobile phones, draft records, accounting reports and other material evidence confirming the organisation of fictitious company registrations and money laundering.
What the members of the criminal group face
Based on the results of the measures taken, seven members of the group were served a notice of suspicion of creating or acquiring a legal entity to cover up illegal activities (Part 2 of Article 205¹ of the Criminal Code of Ukraine) and legalisation (laundering) of the proceeds of crime (Part 3 of Article 209 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine).
These offences are punishable by imprisonment for up to twelve years with confiscation of property.
