Detectives of the Territorial Department of the Economic Security Bureau in Odesa region sent to court proceedings against an official of one of the departments of education, culture, youth and sports of Odesa region who is also a deputy of the village council on the fact of misappropriation of public funds in especially large amounts.

The investigation established that the official entered into a contract for the reconstruction of a multifunctional sports ground with artificial turf in the educational complex. Upon completion of the reconstruction, false information was entered into the acceptance certificates, namely, overstatement of the volume and cost of construction work. The fact of submitting knowingly false official documents to the State treasury service was also established. These actions led to the misappropriation of budget funds in the total amount of UAH 1.7 million.

In order to compensate for the damage the Kyiv district court of Odesa seized the defendant's house and land plot.

Based on the results of the pre-trial investigation and the evidence collected the official was served a notice of suspicion of committing criminal offenses under Part 5 of Art. 191 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (misappropriation, embezzlement or seizure of property through abuse of office) and Part 1 of Art. 366 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (preparation, issuance of knowingly false official documents by an official, entering knowingly false information into official documents). The proceedings were sent to court.

The pre-trial investigation in the criminal proceedings was carried out by detectives of the Territorial Department ESBU in Odesa region under the operational support of the Strategic investigations department in Odesa region of the Strategic investigations department of the National Police of Ukraine and the procedural guidance of prosecutors of the Odesa regional Prosecutor's Office.

Note: In accordance with Art. 62 of the Constitution of Ukraine a person is presumed innocent of committing a crime and shall not be subjected to criminal punishment until his or her guilt is proved by law and established by a court verdict of guilty.