Court arrests multimillion grain theft scheme organizer

The High Anti-Corruption Court of Ukraine (HACC) has ruled to keep a grain theft scheme organizer in custody. The alternative is to release him on bail for almost UAH 2.7 million. The state lost millions of Ukrainian hryvnias due to this criminal operation.

The Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office (SAPO) reported this on Telegram, Ukrinform says.

"On March 24, 2023, (at the request of the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) and SAPO) HACC decided to detain the grain theft scheme criminal. He can be released on bail (UAH 2.684 million) as an alternative. The lawbreaker is the former head of the state enterprise Center for Certification and Testing of Seeds and Planting Stock," the statement said.

The detention period is until May 22, 2023 inclusive. If bail is granted, the suspect will be subject to a number of procedural obligations.

It is noted that the suspect was taken into custody in the courtroom in pursuance of the court decision.

As reported, on March 2, NABU announced the exposure of former employees of the state-owned enterprise. They caused losses to the state of more than UAH 9 million during grain purchases.