Illegal bonuses and fictitious “COVID” payouts worth UAH 1.5 million: following ESBU materials, a former hospital director will stand trial in Bukovyna

 The former hospital director in Bukovyna illegally paid himself bonuses and allowances and also arranged for “COVID” payouts to be calculated for employees who were not involved in treating patients with COVID-19. As a result of these actions, the medical institution suffered over UAH 1.5 million in damages.

Detectives of the Territorial Office of the Economic Security Bureau of Ukraine in the Chernivtsi region have completed the pretrial investigation into the misappropriation and embezzlement of budget funds, as well as their subsequent money laundering.

The investigation established that during 2021-2022, the head of the medical facility systematically issued orders to calculate bonuses and extra payments for himself without approval from the hospital's founder.

In addition, the official organized the payment of allowances intended for medics working with COVID-19 patients to administrative and maintenance staff. Specifically, funds were groundlessly credited to employees of the accounting department, economic service, human resources department, security guards, technical staff, and other workers who did not actually provide medical care to patients.

In this manner, the former director embezzled the funds of the communal institution for a total amount of over UAH 1.5 million.

The suspect was notified of suspicion for committing criminal offenses under Part 2 of Article 191 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (misappropriation of property through abuse of official position), Part 5 of Article 191 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (embezzlement of property in particularly large amounts), and Part 1 of Article 209 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (money laundering of property obtained by criminal means). The indictment has been forwarded to the court.

Procedural guidance was provided by prosecutors of the Chernivtsi Regional Prosecutor's Office.

Please note that according to Article 62 of the Constitution of Ukraine, a person is presumed innocent of committing a crime and cannot be subjected to criminal punishment until their guilt is proven in accordance with the law and established by a court verdict of guilty.