In Donetsk region, the military illegally received 3.5 million hryvnia in “combat” payments

In Donetsk region, the military illegally received 3.5 million hryvnia in “combat” payments

The State Bureau of Investigation has completed a preliminary investigation against the commander of one of the military units in the Donbass and his four subordinates, who developed a scheme for the fictitious payment of “combat” bonuses.

The indictment has been sent to court, the SBI press service reports .

By conspiracy, they created a criminal scheme to receive part of the accrued “combat” payments for servicemen of their unit, who had no direct connection with the hostilities and were located outside the Donetsk region.

Over the course of six months, ten servicemen were given 100 thousand hryvnia each without any reason. Most of these funds were transferred to a card account specified by the command, presenting it as charitable assistance for their unit.

For the period from March to September 2022, damage to the state amounted to about 3.5 million hryvnia, of which 2.064 million hryvnia was received by the unit commander and his accomplices.

SBI officers exposed this criminal scheme and conducted handwriting, economic and military examinations.

The commander of a military unit and three of his subordinates are facing charges of embezzlement and taking possession of other people’s property, committed by an organized group through abuse of official position on an especially large scale, as well as issuing knowingly false official documents (Part 5 of Article 191, Part 1. 366 Criminal Code of Ukraine).

Another participant in the criminal scheme is accused of embezzlement and seizure of other people’s property, committed by an organized group through abuse of official position on an especially large scale (Part 5 of Article 191 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine).

The crimes are punishable by imprisonment for up to 12 years with confiscation of property.

The production is handled by the Specialized Prosecutor’s Office for Defense of the Eastern Region.