Authorities uncovered a group of entrepreneurs who, according to investigators, sold hospitalization medicines at inflated prices. These actions resulted in over 80 million hryvnias in losses for the state budget.
This was announced by Prosecutor General Ruslan Kravchenko.
According to him, the pharmaceuticals in question are primarily used in hospitals: during emergencies, in intensive care, anesthesiology, and for treating severe infections.
The investigation suggests that a group of entrepreneurs and commercial enterprise officials orchestrated the supply of medicines to state institutions at inflated prices.
“The drugs were procured directly from manufacturers and importers, and then sold to medical facilities through affiliated companies. They exceeded the state-established limit of a 10% supplier markup. As a result of this scheme, state and local budgets suffered damages exceeding 80.9 million UAH,” Kravchenko wrote on Facebook.
Investigators also determined that the individuals involved utilized affiliated enterprisesThese are legally independent companies linked by economic control or influence. The primary characteristic of such enterprises is the ability of one company to directly or indirectly affect the decisions of another. to create artificial tax credits and subsequently convert illegally obtained funds into cash.
Kravchenko reported that law enforcement conducted 16 searches in Kyiv, Kyiv Oblast, Lviv Oblast, and Dnipro, seizing documents, computer equipment, phones, bank cards, seals, electronic media, and funds.
Four managers and officials from the enterprises, one of them in absentia, have been notified of suspicion under Part 5 of Article 191 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine for misappropriation, embezzlement, or seizure of property in particularly large amounts through abuse of office. The sanction for this article carries a penalty of 7 to 12 years of imprisonment.
Petitions for pretrial detention have been filed with the court for three suspects. The pre-trial investigation is ongoing. Law enforcement is identifying all individuals involved in the scheme, Kravchenko added.