ESBU exposes customs scam involving special equipment worth over 2.3 million UAH

 Three customs officials were notified of suspicion of abuse of official position. According to the investigation, they ensured the customs clearance of imported special equipment for moving cargo at an understated customs value. As a result, the state budget lost over 2.3 million UAH in customs payments.

Detectives of the Main Detective Unit of the Economic Security Bureau of Ukraine, with the assistance of the Internal Control Department of the State Customs Service, established that the chief state inspectors of one of the customs posts ignored the triggering of the automated risk analysis and management system. They failed to verify the data in the customs declarations and shipping documents and completed customs clearance without conducting the necessary controls.

This concerns the clearance of special equipment, specifically JCB loaders. Documents with false information regarding the year of manufacture and invoice value of the machines were submitted to customs. According to the investigation, their real value exceeded the declared value several times over.

During the pre-trial investigation, nine episodes of illegal customs clearance were documented, due to which the budget did not receive the mandatory customs payments.

ESBU detectives conducted searches on the premises of the Rivne customs, the "Rivne" customs post, as well as at the residences of the individuals involved. They seized mobile phones, documents, and seals.

Based on the collected evidence, three customs officials were notified of suspicion under part 2 of article 364 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (abuse of official position that caused severe consequences).

The pre-trial investigation is ongoing. Detectives are establishing all the circumstances of the criminal offense and other individuals who may be involved in the illegal activity.

Operational support is provided by employees of the Detective Department for Strategic Economic Protection of the ESBU, and prosecutorial guidance is provided by prosecutors of the Office of the Prosecutor General.

We remind you that according to Article 62 of the Constitution of Ukraine, a person is presumed innocent of committing a criminal offense until their guilt is proven in accordance with the law and established by a court's guilty verdict that has entered into force.