Ex-Ministry of Defence official Stupak sentenced to five years’ suspended sentence for fraud with food in Armed Forces
According to Censor.NET, citing the Liga, this was reported in the court register.
As noted, on 13 December, the High Anti-Corruption Court approved an agreement with the investigation, according to which the accused received a two-year probationary sentence. The defendant also reimbursed UAH 100,000 in damages and pledged to pay another UAH 300,000 over the next three months.
As a reminder, in December 2020 - January 2021, the Head of the Ministry of Defence Department, Kostiantyn Stupak, signed contracts for the procurement of catering services for the Armed Forces of Ukraine for 2021. Subsequently, on the instructions of Deputy Minister of Defence of Ukraine Ihor Khalimon, he illegally signed 8 additional agreements with suppliers with terms that were obviously unfavourable to the Armed Forces.
The SBI uncovered the fraud in October 2021 and subsequently transferred the case to the NABU. The subsequent joint investigation established that the officials' intentional unlawful actions also caused property damage to the Armed Forces of Ukraine through additional costs incurred by military units during the redistribution of fixed food stocks. In addition, the transaction led to a decrease in combat readiness and defence capability of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, undermined the authority of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and created a potential threat to the foundations of Ukraine's national security, which led to other serious consequences during the special period.
The investigation established that the additional agreements caused losses to the Ministry of Defence in the amount of about UAH 12 million.
