Case description
On November 21, 2019, the HACC found Anatolii Panchenko, Deputy Director of Pharmaplant Ukraine LLC, guilty of money laundering derived from crime. The court approved the plea agreement, so Panchenko was sentenced to 4 years in prison with a probationary period of 2 years.
How did the crime happen?
According to information from another proceeding, the person with whom Panchenko was in collusion misappropriated more than USD 6 mln; it was allocated for the creation of the National Satellite Communications System of Ukraine.
During 2011–2013, the official of Pharmaplant Ukraine concluded agreements with the offshore company Briklin Limited, under which this money was to be transferred from the accounts of the said company to other individuals and legal entities. This was done to legalize previously stolen finances. The accused subsequently withdrew the money from the Kyiv branch of Alfa Bank.
Panchenko's case is somewhat related to other cases in which Ukrkosmos suffered more than USD 8.2 mln in losses.
The crime was qualified under Art. 209, part 3 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine. Since Panchenko pleaded guilty and agreed to cooperate with the prosecutor, he was exempted from punishment with a probationary period of 2 years (instead of a possible 8–12 years in prison with deprivation of the right to hold certain positions and confiscation of property).
