Hospitals as "business": over UAH 100 million embezzled through fictitious services — suspicions also in Mykolaiv
Eighteen individuals are accused of criminal offenses; among the suspects is the director of a Mykolaiv hospital
As reported by the National Police of Ukraine on March 20, 2026, law enforcement exposed large-scale schemes of embezzling public funds in the health care sector. This concerns over UAH 100 million in losses that resulted from systematically organized mechanisms of illicit enrichment.
According to the investigation, the schemes involved heads of medical institutions, medical directors, department chiefs, doctors, accountants, as well as local officials and affiliated private entities. In several cases these were organized groups that acted in a coordinated and systematic manner. Some defendants had previously been on law enforcement’s radar — in particular, one of the organizers was implicated in a case about the embezzlement of UAH 78 million through fictitious rehabilitation of sanatorium patients.
Investigators identified typical abuse mechanisms — the main tool was interference with the electronic health care system. The defendants inflated patient numbers, fabricated complex cases, and entered false information about treatments that were not actually provided. They also claimed expensive equipment that did not exist, and personnel that did not meet requirements. As a result, they received budget funds for services that were either partially provided or not provided at all.
In some regions they registered fictitious palliative care without actual visits to patients, in others they charged expenses to non-existent “severe” neonatal or rehabilitation cases. Individual scheme participants allocated bonuses to themselves and close associates or used fictitiously employed persons to siphon off money. Cases were also documented where patients were forced to pay for services that had already been funded by the state.
During the first phase of the special operation, which covered almost all regions of Ukraine, law enforcement conducted about 70 searches. Computer equipment, servers, data carriers with access to medical systems, financial documentation, seals, bank cards and cash were seized.
In total 18 defendants are accused of crimes under several articles of the Criminal Code of Ukraine, including: Art.191, Art.364, Art.366, Art.362, Art.367 and Art.209 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine.
Sanctions provide for up to 12 years’ imprisonment with confiscation of property.
According to media reports, among the suspects is the chief physician of one of the medical institutions in Mykolaiv. The police continue to identify all involved persons and are checking possible involvement of the defendants in other episodes of embezzlement of budget funds.
Earlier we wrote:
- Police uncover medical schemes across Ukraine: dozens of searches over fraud worth hundreds of millions
- Hospital renovation: the tiles were already there, but the money was taken a second time
- Over UAH 52 million in losses: large-scale schemes of embezzlement of state funds exposed in Mykolaiv region
- In Mykolaiv, more than 20 million “disappeared” from the children’s hospital: leadership under suspicion
- Stealing from sick children: how UAH 600 million are being siphoned off in Mykolaiv region during the war
- Head of Mykolaiv MSEC hid millions: three apartments, jewelry and a Russian passport
