One of largest suppliers of Ministry of Defense tried to bribe $500 thousand, - State Bureau of Investigation. VIDEO&PHOTOS

A Lviv businessman, one of the largest suppliers to the Ministry of Defense, offered a bribe of $500,000 to the head of the SBI’s Main Investigation Department.

This was reported by the State Bureau of Investigation, Censor.NET reports.

"The bribe was offered for assistance in returning the property seized from the companies under his control in the course of the criminal investigation," the statement said.

Several months ago, the SBI opened a criminal investigation into fraud in the procurement of clothing and underwear for the Armed Forces. The companies of a Lviv businessman won 23 tenders to supply the Ministry of Defense with clothing worth more than UAH 1.5 billion.

Investigators found that the orders were fulfilled by companies that had previously been involved in construction. They had neither production nor warehouse facilities for the manufacture and storage of clothing for the needs of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine. This resulted in losses to the budget estimated at UAH 1.2 billion and, accordingly, disruption of supplies.

In total, 6 contracts were not fulfilled. Under at least 7 contracts, the companies delivered only part of the goods to the warehouses of the military units, while they received funds for the full fulfillment of their obligations. In addition, 8 contracts were executed with a delay of 3 to 5 months.

According to the SBI, the cost of goods supplied to the Ministry of Defence was overstated.

The amount of losses could reach more than UAH 1 billion.

Investigators are now checking whether former officials of the Ministry of Defence were involved in the fraud.

"The issue of serving the suspect a notice of suspicion under Part 3 of Art. 369 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (offer, promise or giving of an unlawful benefit to an official) and choosing a measure of restraint in the form of detention is being decided," the SBI said.

The punishment for such a crime is imprisonment for up to 8 years.