Ordinary dirt instead of therapeutic mud was supplied to the State Emergency Service center in the Odesa region

The Medical Rehabilitation Center “Odesa” of the State Emergency Service of Ukraine was, according to the investigation, supplied with ordinary mud of unknown origin instead of therapeutic mud. The procurement envisaged the delivery of 24 tonnes worth almost 1 million UAH. A possible embezzlement of budget funds was uncovered by the State Bureau of Investigation with assistance from the National Police, the agency’s press service reported.

According to the investigation, the procurement was organized by the acting head of the center and the head nurse together with representatives of private companies. In the documents they stated that the facility had received the entire ordered product and that its quality met the requirements. In reality, however, the mud actually delivered, the SBI claims, did not correspond to the subject of the procurement.

The substitution, according to the investigation, was concealed using invoices and other documents containing false information. These very papers became the basis for transferring budget funds to the private company.

Separately, investigators found signs that competition in the tender may have been artificially created. The documents and seals of the winning company were stored in the same office as the documentation of the firms that formally competed with it for the contract.

In the case, suspicions were reported against the following participants:

• The acting head of the rehabilitation center — suspected of complicity in the embezzlement of property and official forgery.
• The head nurse of the center — suspected of complicity in the embezzlement of property and official forgery.
• The head of the private company — suspected of complicity in the embezzlement of property, as well as of creating and using forged documents.
• The manager of the private company — suspected of complicity in the embezzlement of property, as well as of creating and using forged documents.

The SBI is taking measures to recover the damages inflicted on the state. Procedural supervision in the case is being carried out by the Odesa Regional Prosecutor’s Office. The guilt of the suspects is to be determined by a court.