Officials from the city of Izyum, Kharkiv region, are suspected of falsifying data on the reconstruction program in order to receive compensation from the state for property that was not actually destroyed in the shelling, Ukrinform reported, citing BTA.
Information about this was announced on Facebook by Serhiy Bolvinov, head of the Investigative Department of the National Police in the Kharkiv Region.
"In the city council, the members of the commission that was created to help the victims of the Russian attack decided to earn money. For this purpose, they looked for potential "victims", accepted documents from them and falsified everything, as if the homes were damaged as a result of enemy aggression. Local residents have been involved in this scam since last year”, the post said.
According to Bolvinov, under the guise of destroyed homes, whole houses and those that had collapsed from old age before the invasion were presented to the state authorities.
"Then the "victims“ received certificates under the electronic recovery program, imitated purchases, for example from relatives or neighbors, and the money was distributed among all participants in the scheme, says the head of the investigative department.
According to him, the police are currently checking the buildings at the available addresses and have searched the offices of the military administration employees in the city of Izum, the experts
"Such cases can be demotivating - when your own people steal money intended for people who are left on the streets without a roof over their heads. But we have already stopped this cynical deal and we will find out all those who participated and benefited from foreign tragedies”, promises Bolvinov.
According to the press service of the Main Directorate of the National Police in the Kharkiv region, pre-trial proceedings are currently being conducted for attempted fraud and the work of the city council commission in 2023-2024 is being investigated.
As Ukrinform reported earlier, three people suspected of fraud for more than 1.2 million hryvnias in the sale of non-existent generators during the blackout period will be tried in Kyiv region.