Roofs and windows for damaged homes as a source of profit: a case over alleged budget embezzlement in Dnipropetrovsk Oblast has been sent to court

Under the procedural supervision of the Dnipropetrovsk Regional Prosecutor’s Office, an indictment has been sent to court against eight people whom investigators consider members of a criminal organization. According to law enforcement, the group was led by a deputy of the Kryvyi Rih City Council (media reports mention that it may be Serhii Smelyi) together with his wife.

Those charged include the deputy, his wife, a lawyer, a company director, and several entrepreneurs. Investigators say that through companies under their control, they signed contracts for replacing windows and repairing roofs at a kindergarten, a gymnasium, and residential buildings damaged by Russian shelling, at inflated prices. According to the investigation, official documents contained false information about additional work that was not actually carried out or was not necessary. The difference between the real cost and the amounts allocated from the budget was allegedly siphoned off through affiliated entities.

Law enforcement estimates that in 2023–2024 about 2.5 million hryvnias were misappropriated in this way. It is reported that all suspects were officially notified in February 2025. During the investigation, more than 70 searches were conducted and cash in hryvnias and foreign currency, bank cards, documents, seals, handwritten notes, equipment, and cars were seized.

The defendants are charged, among other things, with large-scale misappropriation of property, establishing and leading a criminal organization, and document forgery (Part 3 of Article 27, Part 4 of Article 28, Part 5 of Article 191, Parts 1 and 2 of Article 255, Part 1 of Article 366 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine). The pre-trial investigation was carried out by investigators of the Main Directorate of the National Police in the Dnipropetrovsk region, with operational support from units of the National Police.

Note: under Article 62 of Ukraine’s Constitution, a person is presumed innocent until their guilt is proven in accordance with the law and established by a court’s guilty verdict.