The High Anti-Corruption Court took into custody in absentia the former Minister of Health Maxim Stepanov, whom NABU and SAPO suspect of embezzling more than 450 million UAH when he headed the state enterprise “Ukraine Printing Plant”.
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Earlier, VAKS placed the head of the Polygraph Combine department responsible for international agreements, Sergei Ferliy, under round-the-clock house arrest. He is the only person involved in Ukraine.
Unfortunately, Stepanov is abroad; he left there at the beginning of the year.
Background
On July 21, the National Anti-Corruption Bureau and the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office, in a joint investigative group with the General Prosecutor’s Office and the Central Criminal Police of Estonia, as well as the National Financial Prosecutor’s Office and the French Financial Forensic Investigation Service, exposed a scheme to seize and legalize UAH 450 million.
According to investigators, the former director of the State Enterprise “Printing Plant” Ukraine” organized a scheme to seize UAH 450 million from the enterprise in 2013-2016. In those years, the plant was headed by Maxim Stepanov. In 2013, he acquired the Estonian company Inte Graph International FZE through frontmen. The owners The company is Igor and Alexander Ilyenko (father and son), Igor is Stepanov’s long-time business partner.
It was this Estonian company that supplied the plant with document forms (passports of Ukrainian citizens, ID cards, driver’s licenses, etc.). At the same time, she was an intermediary, since other companies were the manufacturer. The Estonian company sold forms to the Polygraph Plant at a 4-6 times inflated price. During 2013-2016, the scheme caused about UAH 450 million in damage.
Stepanov is also charged with money laundering. According to investigators, Stepanov disguised the sale of 45% of his shares in an offshore company (which did not actually work), where the Estonian company was withdrawing funds, to another controlled company for $1.35 million. Then he declared them, which actually gave him the opportunity to use them. Part of the funds in the amount of 150 thousand dollars was transferred directly to the accounts of Stepanov’s relatives.
In addition, Stepanov patented for a controlled company the intellectual property rights to implanted security elements used in Ukrainian passports. Thus, each citizen, upon receiving documents, not only overpaid the cost due to inflated purchases, but also paid extra to the official for his “intellectual contribution.” The intellectual property scheme was closed in 2022 on the initiative of NABU – the Cabinet of Ministers changed the technical requirements and images of security elements of Ukrainian documents.
Source: Racurs
I am David Wyatt, a professional writer and journalist for Buna Times. I specialize in the world section of news coverage, where I bring to light stories and issues that affect us globally. As a graduate of Journalism, I have always had the passion to spread knowledge through writing.