Fuel fraud worth nearly 17 million: ESBU completes investigation into Kyiv region oil trader

 An ex-head of a fuel trading enterprise evaded nearly UAH 17 million in taxes through fraudulent schemes. Detectives of the Territorial Office of the Economic Security Bureau of Ukraine in the Kyiv region have completed the pre-trial investigation. The case materials have been forwarded to the court.

The investigation established that the company's director used an illegal scheme for several years. She drew up fictitious documents for purchasing petroleum products from firms she did not actually work with. The fuel volumes specified in the documents significantly exceeded the capacity of the trucks designated to transport them.

Through these manipulations, the enterprise artificially inflated its expenses and understated its real profits to evade value-added tax. In reality, the fuel was sold for cash off the books. Meanwhile, in accounting documents, it was fictitiously recorded as remaining stock allegedly stored in warehouses for years.

To conceal the scam, the head of the business submitted monthly reports containing deliberately false data to the tax service.

Due to these actions, UAH 16.9 million was not received by the State Budget of Ukraine, which constitutes an especially large amount.

The suspect has been notified of suspicion of committing a criminal offense under Part 3 of Article 212 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (tax evasion on an especially large scale).

Operational support was provided by officers of the Department of Strategic Investigations of the National Police of Ukraine. Prosecutorial guidance was provided by the Kyiv Oblast Prosecutor's Office.