A businessman-supplier of the Ministry of Defense tried to bribe one of the heads of SBI for $500 000

Employees of the State Bureau of Investigation (SBI) detained a Lviv businessman, one of the largest suppliers of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine (MDU). He allegedly offered $500 000 to one of the heads of the Main Investigative Department of SBI.

This was reported in the press service of the department.

According to SBI, the businessman wanted to give a bribe for assistance in the return of property seized from companies under his control during a criminal investigation.

It was about a criminal case on the fact of fraud with the procurement of clothes and underwear for the Armed Forces. The Lviv businessmanʼs companies won 23 tenders for the supply of clothing to the Ministry of Defense for over UAH 1.5 billion.

The investigation established that defense orders were executed by enterprises controlled by the businessman, which were previously engaged in construction and did not have the necessary equipment and warehouses to manufacture items for the Ministry of Defense. According to preliminary data, the budget lost UAH 1.2 billion due to the scheme, and supplies to the Armed Forces were interrupted.

According to law enforcement officers, six contracts are completely unfulfilled. Despite the fact that full payment was made, the enterprises delivered goods to the warehouses of military units incompletely under at least seven contracts. And eight contracts were executed 3 to 5 months late.

The documents of the specified enterprises indicate that the cost of the goods supplied for MDU was overstated. Law enforcement officers are checking former officials of the Ministry of Defense for involvement in fraud. Presumably, they did not take any legal action to enforce or terminate the contracts.

According to preliminary estimates, the amount of damages may reach more than one billion hryvnias. A pre-trial investigation is ongoing.

The issue of notifying a Lviv businessman of suspicion under Part 3 of Art. 369 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (offer, promise or provision of an unlawful benefit to an official) and choosing a preventive measure in the form of detention. He faces up to eight years in prison.