NABU and SAPO exposed a scheme to steal 90 million UAH from the purchase of drones for the Ukrainian military

The National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) and the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutorʼs Office (SAPO) have exposed a scheme to embezzle funds for the purchase of drones for the Ukrainian military.

This is stated in a statement by the NABU press service.

According to the investigation, after the State Service for Special Communications received UAH 30 million in 2023 for the purchase of drones, one of the departmentʼs leaders decided to embezzle part of this money.

He made agreements with representatives of several private companies to sell drones at artificially inflated prices. For appearance, they held fictitious tenders with shell companies that only created the illusion of competition.

As a result, from May to September 2023, the State Service for Special Communications purchased:

• 400 DJI Mavic 3 drones;
• 1 300 Autel Evo Max 4T drones.

They were purchased at prices 70-90% above market prices.

As a result, the state lost over UAH 90 million. Part of the money was transferred by the participants of the scheme to the accounts of controlled companies, including foreign ones.

• Thanks to the operational actions of NABU and SAPO, it was possible to seize over 4 million US dollars in accounts abroad and UAH 17 million in Ukraine.

Two officials of the State Special Communications Service and two representatives of private companies were suspected of embezzlement of state funds on a particularly large scale.

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