Prosecutors of the Chernivtsi Regional Prosecutor's Office, together with the Bureau of Economic Security and the police, have established new circumstances in the criminal proceedings regarding the embezzlement of budget funds by the Chernivtsi Municipal Enterprise "Misksvitlo" during the procurement of goods.

As a reminder: regarding this fact, in August 2025, a public official and the head of a private enterprise were notified of suspicion under Part 5 of Article 191 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine.

During the pre-trial investigation, it was established that, in addition to the head of the municipal enterprise and the owner of the private company, current and former employees of the same firm were also involved in the scheme of misappropriating budget funds.

The city council deputy — the head of the Chernivtsi Municipal Enterprise "Misksvitlo" and the owner of the private company were informed of the change in the previously announced suspicion. They and two other accomplices — the chief accountant and a former employee of the company — are accused of embezzling budget funds in particularly large amounts by an organized group (Part 2, Part 3, Part 5 of Article 27, Part 5 of Article 191 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine).

According to the investigation, the members of the organized criminal group established a mechanism for embezzling budget funds by purchasing goods at artificially inflated prices. For this purpose, a controlled individual entrepreneur, acting as a "front," was involved, through whom the Chernivtsi Municipal Enterprise "Misksvitlo" resold lighting equipment at an inflated price.

Having full control over the individual entrepreneur — access to their accounts, signatures, and seals, the chief accountant of the company prepared the "necessary contracts," while her former colleague ensured their signing by the director of the municipal enterprise.

After receiving the funds, the difference, approximately 2.2 million UAH, was embezzled by the members of the organized criminal group.

The pre-trial investigation is being conducted by detectives of the Territorial Department of the Bureau of Economic Security in the Chernivtsi region with operational support from the Strategic Investigations Department in the Chernivtsi region and the Security Service of Ukraine in the Chernivtsi region.

Note: 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 a lawful manner and established by a court verdict.