A scheme involving ‘front companies’: how Yevhen Pulya’s firms siphoned off millions through a rigged tender for a military unit

A scheme involving ‘front companies’: how Yevhen Pulya’s firms siphoned off millions through a rigged tender for a military unit

How Yevhen Pulya’s companies serviced schemes in the Ministry of Defence.

Corruption scheme in a Ministry of Defence tender: how fictitious firms “sold” sugar and milk instead of cartridges for the army

According to the investigation, in March 2017 LLC “Ideal” (part of Yevhen Pulya’s pool of companies) won a tender from a military unit and received UAH 3.3 million for the supply of 400 RP-5 regenerative cartridges (heat exchangers for equipment).

However, no real cartridges were ever delivered. Through controlled fictitious companies — LLC “Prodzho” and PE “Venta-Soft” — a series of “pseudo-economic transactions” were arranged.

In the tax reporting of LLC “Ideal,” purchases of sugar, tea, milk, cream, and other food products were recorded. At the same time, the fictitious firms in the supply chain declared completely different goods (vegetables, caviar, yogurts, etc.).

The investigation established that these companies had no production facilities, warehouses, or vehicles — they were classic “shell companies” used to siphon off budget funds. As a result, the director of LLC “Ideal,” together with two co-organizers, embezzled UAH 3.3 million of budget funds on an especially large scale.

This is a typical “shell-company scheme” on military tenders: winning the tender — fictitious supply chain — conversion of budget funds into cash. The case was investigated under Part 5 of Article 191 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine.