Detectives of the Bureau of Economic Security of Ukraine (BES) detained the director of the company, who is suspected of tax evasion in particularly large amounts, official forgery, forgery of excise tax stamps, illegal manufacture and sale of excise goods. The man was wanted for a year and a half. The court chose him as a preventive measure in the form of arrest.
This was reported in the Bureau of Economic Security of Ukraine.
The agency does not specify the name of the suspect, but the case files show that it is the head of the Odesa businessmanʼs company, the "king of smuggling" Vadym Alperin, who is accused of creating a criminal organization, tax evasion and abuse of position. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky imposed sanctions against him earlier this month.
Earlier, BES detectives established that the company, which has a license for the official production of tobacco products, together with controlled companies illegally produced and sold cigarettes with fake excise tax stamps.
"The mentioned company is affiliated with a well-known under-sanctioned smuggler from Odessa," BES noted.
During the investigation, detectives seized more than 1.2 million packs of tobacco products with a market value of 70 million hryvnias. According to expertsʼ conclusions, fake cigarettes were produced on the same lines as official products.
Also, during the searches, almost 20 tons of raw tobacco, equipment for the industrial production of tobacco products, two lines for their packaging, etc., were seized. The court imposed a seizure on the seized lines, which was later removed, as the property was leased from a controlled enterprise.