A scheme to embezzle nearly €83,000 in agricultural grants was uncovered in Kyiv

Law enforcement officers have exposed two Kyiv residents who embezzled nearly 4 million hryvnias (€82,840) in grant funds intended for agricultural development.

This was reported by the Press Service of the National Police of Ukraine.

According to the investigation, the head of an organization specializing in mixed farming submitted fraudulent documents through a digital platform to the Ministry of Agrarian Policy and Food of Ukraine in order to obtain a grant for the creation and development of an orchard. When reporting on the use of funds, he attempted to pass off old plantings as new ones.

Meanwhile, the chief economist of a Kyiv-based bank prepared a falsified report claiming that the grant conditions had been met, which allowed them to cover up the embezzlement of 3.8 million hryvnias in state funds.

The Cyber Police Department, in cooperation with investigators from the Main Directorate of the National Police in Kyiv Region, and under the procedural guidance of the Kyiv Regional Prosecutor’s Office, conducted the investigation.

As part of the pre-trial investigation, law enforcement officers inspected the site with the participation of a geodetic engineer, a technical supervision engineer, and a representative from the Institute of Horticulture of the National Academy of Agrarian Sciences. Experts uncovered numerous violations of the grant conditions, particularly concerning the establishment of new plantings and horticultural development.

Additionally, police carried out searches at the suspects’ residences and on the territory of the agro-firm where business operations were conducted. During these searches, a number of items of evidentiary value were seized, confirming the illegal activities.

The director of the company has been notified of suspicion under Part 5 of Article 191 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (embezzlement of property entrusted to a person through abuse of office, committed on a particularly large scale). The bank employee was charged under Part 2 of Article 367 of the Criminal Code (official negligence causing serious consequences to state interests protected by law).

The investigation is ongoing, as law enforcement continues to establish all the circumstances of the case and the potential involvement of other individuals in the scheme.