Shadow sale of fuel vouchers: The ESBU has exposed a scheme to evade UAH 34.7 million in taxes

 Detectives of the Territorial Office of the ESBU in the Kyiv region have exposed and shut down a conversion center that had been operating in the city of Dnipro since 2023. The center was used to convert non-cash funds into cash and to issue fictitious documents for various enterprises.

The investigation established that a group of individuals organized a scheme to purchase fuel vouchers (gasoline and diesel) from major producers and distributors. Subsequently, these vouchers were sold for cash without reflecting the transactions in tax reporting.

To cover their activities, the participants of the scheme issued fictitious documents for enterprises in the agricultural, construction, and cleaning sectors. This allowed the companies to record non-existent expenses and understate their tax liabilities for Value Added Tax (VAT).

According to preliminary data, the volume of shadow fuel sales operations exceeded UAH 218 million. As a result, the state budget lost over UAH 34.7 million in tax revenue.

During the authorized searches at the offices and residences of the suspects, detectives seized fuel vouchers totaling over 70,000 liters. Cash in both national and foreign currencies, amounting to nearly UAH 1.5 million, was also seized.

Additionally, mobile phones, bank cards, «shadow» records, and financial and business documentation were confiscated.

The pretrial investigation is being conducted under Part 3 of Article 212 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (tax evasion in especially large amounts). It was initiated based on analytical materials provided by specialists from the Territorial Office of the ESBU in the Kyiv region.

Efforts are currently underway to identify the enterprises that used the services of this conversion center to minimize their tax liabilities.

Operational support is provided by the Department for the Protection of National Statehood of the Security Service of Ukraine. Procedural oversight is carried out by the Kyiv Regional Prosecutor's Office.