The Security Service of Ukraine have blocked a corruption scheme in the Kharkiv regional branch of JSC “Ukrzaliznytsia.” Two officials were exposed who heavily stole new railway rails intended for the emergency restoration of destroyed tracks in the front-line areas of the region.
The following information has been shared by the Security Service of Ukraine via their official social media handle. The details added that, “The illegal activities of the participants could lead to disruption of the logistics routes of the Defense Forces on the Eastern Front. Also, their actions could disrupt the delivery of military equipment of the Armed Forces to the front.”
According to the investigation, the head of one of the structural subdivisions of the regional branch of the state-owned enterprise and his deputy are involved in the organization of the scheme.
It is to be added that during May 2022, they used old rails that had exhausted their service life to repair railway tracks damaged as a result of Russian shelling. Obsolete components were received through “write-off” as scrap metal, which is allegedly used for the manufacture of anti-tank “hedgehogs”. At the same time, in reality, the participants did not make any engineering barriers.
Instead, they used new rails from the state reserve to fulfill “individual” commercial orders, which were not officially issued, but “payment” was received in cash.
The details further added that, to hide the crime, the perpetrators even removed the markings from new components to make their identification impossible. In this way, officials received UAH 1.2 million from businessmen.
In order to implement the arrangement, its organizers entered unreliable information into the reporting and financial and economic documentation.
On the basis of the evidence collected by the Security Service, both participants were notified of suspicion under three articles of the Criminal Code of Ukraine:
▪ Part 5 of Art. 191 (waste of property by abuse of official position, committed in particularly large amounts, according to a prior conspiracy by a group of persons, under martial law);
▪ Part 1 of Art. 366 (official forgery);
▪ Part 4 of Art. 368 (receipt of an illegal benefit by an official, committed in a particularly large amount).
The perpetrators are currently in custody. They face up to 12 years in prison.