Fraud with coal mining worth millions of hryvnias: group of officials and mine “supervisor” served suspicion notices in Lviv region – National Police
This was reported by the Lviv regional police.
These are the director, chief engineer and head of the mine’s technological complex, as well as the so-called supervisor of the state-owned enterprise. The defendants entered fictitious data into daily reports on coal production. In this way, they created unaccounted for subsoil residues, which were transported to transshipment sites and sold to close companies. The daily production indicated in the official documents was three times lower than the actual production.
In the course of comprehensive measures to detect offences in the energy sector, police officers dismantled a criminal scheme for theft of subsoil. According to operatives of the Strategic Investigations Department in Lviv region and investigators of the Regional Police Investigation Department, the scheme was organised by a mine supervisor and its director. The chief engineer and the head of the technological complex of the state-owned enterprise were involved in the fraud.
On the instructions of the organisers, they entered fictitious data into the daily reports on coal production. This allowed them to accumulate unaccounted for balances of products, which were taken out of the mine under the guise of waste to so-called transshipment sites. Later, the coal was sold to controlled companies without being reflected in the accounting records.
In February 2024, a USR operative and police investigators conducted searches at the mine, transshipment sites and the defendants’ residences. They seized “double-entry” documents, work logs and draft records. They also prevented an attempt to export unaccounted for coal.
After analysing the seized documents, law enforcement officers found that the daily production indicated in the official documents was three times lower than the actual production. For example, in one official daily report to the relevant ministry, the defendants reported 80 tonnes of coal mined instead of 240. It has already been confirmed that in just 6 days in February 2024, their “business” of stealing subsoil brought in almost UAH 2.4 million in profit.
On 18 June, the police served the members of the criminal group with a notice of suspicion under Part 5 of Article 191 (misappropriation, embezzlement or seizure of property by abuse of office on a large scale or by an organised group) and Part 1 of Article 366 (forgery) of the Criminal Code of Ukraine. The individuals in question are the director, chief engineer and head of the mine’s technological complex, as well as the “lookout” for the state-owned enterprise. The issue of choosing a measure of restraint in the form of detention is being decided.
The pre-trial investigation is ongoing under the supervision of the Lviv Region Prosecutor’s Office. Measures are being taken to establish the final amount of damage caused to the state and its compensation.
The current legislation provides for liability for the offence, which is imprisonment for a term of seven to twelve years with disqualification to hold certain positions or engage in certain activities for up to three years and confiscation of property.
In May of this year, the National Police detained an entrepreneur and people from his entourage involved in a large-scale coal scam worth billions of hryvnias.