Fictitious agency services and offshore companies: how fugitive Spetstekhnoeksport director Pavel Barbul siphoned off funds from a defense company through shell companies

Fictitious agency services and offshore companies: how fugitive Spetstekhnoeksport director Pavel Barbul siphoned off funds from a defense company through shell companies

The High Anti-Corruption Court will try in absentia the former director of the state-owned enterprise Spetstekhnoexport, Pavlo Barbul, his former deputy, Anton Voronin, and businessman Viktor Markelov in a case involving the embezzlement of more than 146 million hryvnias from state-owned defense sector enterprises.

The High Anti-Corruption Court (HACC) made this decision on August 25, Slovo i Delo reports.

“The prosecutor’s motion to implement special judicial proceedings shall be granted. To implement special judicial proceedings in the criminal proceedings against (Barbula – ed.) on charges of committing criminal offenses provided for in Part 5 of Article 191, Part 3 of Article 27, Part 3 of Article 28, Part 1 of Article 366, Part 3 of Article 28, Part 1 of Article 366, Part 3 of Article 209 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine, (Voronina – ed.) on charges of committing criminal offenses provided for in Part 5 of Article 27, Part 5 of Article 191, Part 5 of Article 27, Part 3 of Article 28, Part 1 of Article 366, Part 3 of Article 209 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine, and (Markelova – ed.) on charges of committing criminal offenses under Part 5 of Article 27, Part 5 of Article 191, Part 5 of Article 27, Part 3 of Article 209 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine,” the decision states.

As a reminder, the NABU and SAP uncovered a scheme to embezzle over UAH 107.2 million from a state-owned enterprise, part of Ukroboronprom. According to investigators, the state-owned enterprise hired a non-resident company to provide intermediary services in foreign trade contracts. However, in fact, all of the work was carried out exclusively by the state-owned enterprise’s employees.

As a result, between 2016 and 2019, the state-owned enterprise unjustifiably paid a non-resident company an agency fee in the amount of more than 3.78 million euros (equivalent to more than 107.2 million UAH) for intermediary services that it did not actually provide.

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To launder these funds, the individuals transferred them to the accounts of fictitious companies and then distributed them among all members of the criminal group. The defendants in this case were later identified .