The NABU and the SAPO charge Leonid Bohdanov, director of the Information Center, State Enterprise of the Ministry of Justice of Ukraine (Derzhinformiust); his former deputy Kostiantyn Bezpalko; Hnat Kravchenko, director of Zuivskyi Power and Mechanical Plant LLC; and Anna Ponomarenko (Voloshchuk), head of the private company Asten-MN, with the misappropriation of UAH 7.7 million in the procurement of software.
According to the investigation, Bohdanov concluded a contract with Ponomarenko, director of Asten-MN LLC, worth UAH 11.1 million for the supply of videoconferencing and IP-telephony equipment, as well as the corresponding TrueConf software.
Later, on the basis of supplementary agreements, the contract value was increased to UAH 20.46 million. The documents provided not only for the supply of equipment and software, but also for a set of works, in particular the installation, configuration, and testing of the systems, as well as the training and certification of personnel in units of the Ministry of Justice of Ukraine.
In performance of the contract, the parties signed a number of work acceptance certificates and delivery notes, on the basis of which the state enterprise transferred over UAH 18.8 million to Asten-MN LLC's accounts.
However, the investigation established that a significant portion of the declared works had actually been carried out by the employees of the State Enterprise Information Center itself, rather than by the contractor. Despite this, the company was paid around UAH 5.97 million without grounds for the works it had supposedly performed.
It was also established that the TrueConf software, for which the state enterprise paid an additional UAH 6.75 million, had in fact already been purchased earlier, while part of the software product is actually a free version (TrueConf-Client), available for free download. Thus, the total amount of funds spent without grounds exceeds UAH 12.7 million.
To launder the funds obtained in this way, the participants in the scheme transferred them through a number of controlled enterprises bearing signs of fictitiousness. In particular, the funds were directed to the accounts of Console Invest LLC, Yuni Teks LLC, Tekhno-Torh 2011 LLC, and other business entities — thereby creating the appearance that works had been performed and goods supplied.
The funds that the state enterprise had paid for undelivered equipment were subsequently laundered by transferring them to foreign companies registered in Germany, the United Kingdom, Panama, and Cyprus.
As a result of these actions, the state, in the person of Derzhinformiust, sustained over UAH 7.7 million in losses.
The defendants' actions were classified under Article 191(5) and Article 209(3) of the Criminal Code of Ukraine. One of the defendants, Hnat Kravchenko, is currently on the wanted list.
Another defendant in the criminal proceedings, Olena Netyshenska, former deputy director of Derzhinformiust, has already entered a plea deal with the investigation. The HACC found her guilty and sentenced her to five years' imprisonment, suspended, with a two-year probationary period. In addition — a fine of UAH 17,000 and a two-year ban on holding certain positions.
05/09/2023
