Raider scheme worth nearly UAH 70 million: ESBU dismantles illegal corporate takeover operation

 An attorney and a company founder who organized a scheme to illegally seize nearly UAH 70 million worth of corporate rights have been notified of suspicion.

Detectives of the Territorial Office of the ESBU in the Odesa region established that the perpetrators organized the unlawful re-registration of a 30% share in the company's authorized capital, which belonged to a Cypriot company. The value of the corporate rights amounts to nearly UAH 70 million.

To execute the scheme, the accomplices fabricated and used documents containing knowingly false information. Specifically, they added information to the corporate charter documents regarding an alleged change in the company's membership and the transfer of 100% of the corporate rights to another company, even though the legitimate owner had made no decisions regarding the divestment of their share.

During the pretrial investigation, detectives conducted authorized searches of the perpetrators' residences and workplaces, during which they seized physical evidence.

Based on the results of the conducted investigative actions, the company's founder was notified of suspicion of organizing the submission of knowingly false information into documents required for the state registration of a legal entity, as well as the unlawful seizure of enterprise property (Part 3 of Article 27, Part 2 of Article 205-1, Part 3 of Article 27, Part 3 of Article 206-2 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine).

An attorney who signed and used the forged documents to perform the unlawful state registration of changes regarding the legal entity was also notified of suspicion (Part 2 of Article 205-1, Part 3 of Article 206-2 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine).

Thanks to the measures taken by ESBU detectives, the 30% corporate rights worth nearly UAH 70 million were returned to the legitimate owner. The court upheld the legality of the order issued by the Ministry of Justice of Ukraine, which overturned the unlawful registration actions concerning the change of the company's owners.

The pretrial investigation, under the prosecution oversight of the Odesa Oblast Prosecutor's Office, is ongoing. The full circle of individuals involved in the execution of the scheme is currently being established.

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 conviction.