Underground fuel production in the Poltava region ends in court

 In Poltava, two residents will stand trial for allegedly organizing the underground production of substandard gasoline and selling it for cash. Detectives of the Territorial Office of the ESBU in the Poltava region have completed the pre-trial investigation and forwarded the indictment to the court.

According to the investigation, the suspects purchased components for manufacturing gasoline over the Internet. The fuel was mixed in specially equipped premises, after which the finished products were sold. No cashless transactions were conducted—sales were carried out exclusively for cash.

The illegal production did not have time to expand to a large scale. Detectives uncovered it after the second large-scale purchase of gasoline manufacturing components.

During the searches, approximately 1,000 liters of finished homemade fuel were seized.

Both men are charged with the illegal manufacture, storage, and sale of excisable goods (Part 2 of Article 28, Part 1 of Article 204, and Part 2 of Article 28, Part 2 of Article 204 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine), as well as the legalization of property obtained through crime (Part 1 of Article 209 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine).

The indictment has been forwarded to the court.

The prosecution in the criminal proceedings is supervised by the Poltava Regional Prosecutor's Office. Operational support was provided by the SSU Office in the Poltava region.

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.