Former head of state-owned defense enterprise informed of new suspicions: dismantling equipment, scrap metal and luxury cars

The former acting general director of a state-owned defense enterprise and three of his subordinates were informed of new suspicions in the case of large-scale embezzlement of the defense enterprise’s property. According to the investigation, the officials organized a scheme to dismantle equipment and sell it as scrap metal, causing the state multimillion-dollar losses.

This was reported by Prosecutor General Ruslan Kravchenko.

The equipment was dismantled and handed over for scrap metal

According to the investigation, the head of a state-owned enterprise, which was in the process of privatization, together with employees organized a scheme to actually destroy production facilities.

Law enforcement officers established that the equipment was dismantled, sawed, taken out and handed over to scrap metal collection points. The participants in the scheme coordinated their actions by phone, agreeing on the arrival of buyers, preparation of metal and its transportation.

According to preliminary estimates, the losses to the state-owned enterprise amount to millions of hryvnias.

This is not the first suspicion

As the Prosecutor General noted, the former manager and chief engineer were previously reported on suspicion of receiving illegal benefits for the illegal transfer of warehouse space of a state-owned enterprise without concluding lease agreements.

Luxury cars and false declarations

The investigation also established that during the war the suspect became the actual owner of expensive cars, including a BMW M8, Mercedes-Benz CLS-Class and Lamborghini Murciélago.

According to law enforcement officers, the vehicles were registered to relatives and related persons, although they were used directly by the suspect. At the same time, this property was not reflected in the annual declarations.

In this regard, he was reported on another suspicion – for entering knowingly false information into the declarations for 2024 and 2025.

One of the key episodes of the investigation was the purchase of an Audi RS7 car in 2024 worth about 4 million UAH. According to the prosecutor’s office, the car was registered to the suspect’s mother on the same day, but the documents indicated a price of only 100 thousand UAH. Six months later, the car was resold for 4.2 million UAH, but it never appeared in the official’s declaration.

According to the Prosecutor General’s Office, the amount of inaccurate information in the declaration for 2024 is 11.5 million UAH, and for 2025 – almost 13 million UAH.

Currently, the pre-trial investigation has been completed, and the criminal case materials have been opened for review by the suspects.