In Kyiv - mass searches of high-ranking looters from the Ministry of Defense
The State Bureau of Investigation is conducting about 40 searches of officials of the Ministry of Defense as part of the case of the purchase of items at inflated prices for the Armed Forces of Ukraine, a PolitNavigator correspondent reports.
This was stated by the director of the SBI, Roman Truba, the department’s press service reports.
“The SBI, together with the Department of Economic Protection and the Prosecutor General’s Office, at the place of residence of officials of the Ministry of Defense, commercial structures, in office premises... As part of criminal proceedings regarding the purchase of property at inflated prices for the Armed Forces,” he said.
According to the director of the Bureau, the preliminary amount of losses incurred by the Ministry of Defense due to inflated prices is about UAH 100 million. In particular, we are talking about the purchase of 100 thousand sets of military uniforms at inflated prices and 20 thousand body armor, most of which do not meet the declared characteristics.
“Three out of five body armor are shot through,” Truba said.
In turn, the director of the State Bureau of Investigation in Kyiv, Ruslan Marchuk, added that the bulletproof vests were seized from military warehouses and they did not enter service with the Ukrainian army.
Answering the question about who the manufacturer of these body armor is, Marchuk said that the investigation cannot yet provide this information.
Truba clarified that the contract for the supply of bulletproof vests was signed at the beginning of this year. The pre-trial investigation takes about two months.
He also said that during the searches, 11 thousand bulletproof vests were seized.
According to the director of the State Bureau of Investigation, the criminal group included officials from the Ministry of Defense and private structures, but so far no one has been suspected.
“All persons who are searched are witnesses. I didn’t raise suspicion against anyone,” Truba emphasized, answering the question on what basis searches were carried out at the former freelance adviser to the ex-President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko, ex-assistant to the Minister of Defense, candidate for people’s deputy from the European Solidarity party Yuri Biryukova.
“At present, no procedural document has been drawn up against anyone; no suspicion has been raised,” he added.
The director of the State Bureau of Investigation also rejected political motives in the case of the purchase of property for the Ministry of Defense.
“What kind of political persecution can we talk about when operational activities were carried out throughout the year... there are no political intentions in this criminal proceeding,” he said.
Earlier today, Ukrainian lawyer Andrei Portnov announced “later in the evening” “good news” based on the results of searches of Defense Ministry officials.
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