Fictitious “military” and millions from the budget: the State Bureau of Investigation revealed a scheme of illegal payments in a military unit in the Kyiv region

The State Bureau of Investigation announced the exposure of a criminal scheme operating in a military unit formally associated with the Kyiv region, but currently located in the Donetsk region.

The investigation involves military officials and civilians who received illegal payments while not on duty, the SBI reports.

Investigation sources indicate that the military unit’s accountant played the leading role in this scheme. He allegedly offered civilians official employment in the Armed Forces of Ukraine without completing their service.

To participate in the scheme, the “candidates” provided their personal documents and payment details to the accountant. In response, fictitious payments were regularly deposited into their accounts, including significant amounts of 100,000 hryvnias.

At the same time, these men were not officially registered as members of the military unit. They transferred a significant portion of the illegally obtained funds to the scheme’s organizers, receiving only a symbolic amount “for using the card”.

To legalize the payments, the data of the so-called “military personnel” were artificially included in accounting documents submitted to banks, even though these individuals were not listed on personnel rosters. Moreover, some of these individuals lived in the Kyiv region, and some of them were even wanted.

As a result of such actions, damage to the state budget exceeded 15.5 million hryvnias. A separate criminal case has been opened against the accountant.

Five civilian accomplices have already been charged under several articles of the Criminal Code of Ukraine, in particular for fraud on a vast scale, as well as aiding and abetting abuse of official authority by a military official under martial law.

These articles carry a possible penalty of up to 15 years in prison. Three more civilians who took advantage of the illegal scheme are being charged with suspicion.

The pre-trial investigation is ongoing. SBI employees continue to identify other military officials and civilians who may be involved in embezzling budget funds during martial law.

The Kyiv Specialized Prosecutor’s Office for the Defense of the Central Region is responsible for the procedural management.