A large-scale financial fraud has been uncovered in the funeral service in the capital
This is reported by Kyiv24
The Kyiv City Prosecutor’s Office has completed its investigation and submitted an indictment to the court against the former director and head of the personnel department of the Specialized Enterprise for Communal and Household Services. They are suspected of repeatedly illegally appropriating budget funds, as well as laundering property obtained through criminal means.
The “Dead Souls” Scheme in the Capital’s Funeral Service
It has been established that from 2020 to 2023, a criminal scheme operated within Kyiv’s funeral service, allowing officials to systematically receive money from the city budget. They registered fictitious employees, including cemetery cleaners, and managed their bank cards. Thus, officials received salaries for non-existent individuals and used these funds at their discretion.
“The accused – the head of the enterprise and his accomplice, having at their disposal the bank cards of 23 employees who formally held the positions of cemetery cleaners, withdrew the accrued money from them and disposed of it as they wished. In turn, the head of the personnel department, aiding the accomplices in appropriating budget funds, signed time sheets for fictitious employees,” the prosecutor’s office reported.
As a result of the fraud, the Kyiv budget suffered losses of over 21 million UAH. In addition, more than 10 million UAH was paid in taxes and fees from fictitious salaries.
Compensation and Property Seizure
After the suspicion was announced, the former director of the enterprise returned 15.9 million UAH to the city, transferring it to the account of the Kyiv City State Administration. Meanwhile, his accomplice, realizing the consequences of the crime, re-registered two apartments in Kyiv and a private house with a land plot in the Kyiv region to her daughter after the searches. According to the investigation, one of the apartments, worth nearly 4 million UAH, was purchased in February 2023 with illegally obtained funds.
Currently, at the prosecutor’s initiative, a seizure has been placed on this apartment. The pre-trial investigation has been completed, and the case will soon be heard in court.