SBI completes investigation into two officers in Dnipropetrovs'k region who stole military salaries

The State Bureau of Investigations has completed the pre-trial investigation regarding two officers from one of the military units in the Dnipropetrovsk region. These two officers misappropriated over 3.5 million hryvnias, which were intended for payments to servicemen. The State Bureau of Investigations has sent the indictment to the court.

According to the investigation, in order to implement the unlawful scheme, the head of the personnel department of the staff and the head of the construction unit forged documents and "hired" approximately ten civilians in the unit. These individuals had no actual connection to military service but were fraudulently receiving financial support, including bonuses for supposed participation in combat operations.

All the money was funneled to the organizers of the scheme, who managed to misappropriate 3.5 million hryvnias. When the State Bureau of Investigations began to investigate the scheme, one of the suspects attempted to bribe an investigator with $10,000. The military officer was arrested in February during the bribery attempt.

In August 2023, by the decision of the Kirovsky District Court in Dnipro, the military officer who offered the bribe to a State Bureau of Investigations employee was found guilty of providing unlawful benefits to a public official (Part 3 of Article 369 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine) and was sentenced to four years of imprisonment.

Currently, both individuals will face trial for misappropriation of someone else's property through abuse of official position (Part 5 of Article 191 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine). The penalty for this offense may include imprisonment for up to 12 years. One of the military officers has already reimbursed a portion of the stolen money, amounting to over 600,000 hryvnias.