Factory — sent for scrap, millions — spent on a Lamborghini: scheme uncovered at a defense enterprise

Prosecutors from the Office of the Prosecutor General have announced new suspicions against the former acting general director of a state enterprise in the defense sector and three of his employees. This was reported on 23 July 2026 by the Prosecutor General of Ukraine Ruslan Kravchenko.

According to the investigation, the enterprise was undergoing privatization, but its then head together with subordinates, instead of properly managing the assets, organized a scheme to destroy the plant. Equipment was dismantled, cut up, taken away and sold to scrap metal collection points. Law enforcement recorded phone calls during which scheme participants coordinated buyers’ arrivals, the preparation of the metal and its transportation. According to preliminary estimates, the state enterprise suffered millions of hryvnias in damages.

Earlier, the same former head and the chief engineer were already notified of suspicion of receiving illicit benefits. According to the investigation, they handed over the enterprise’s warehouse premises for use without concluding lease agreements. Law enforcement also established that during the full-scale war the ex-official became the effective owner of a fleet of expensive cars, including BMW M8, Mercedes-Benz CLS-Class and Lamborghini Murciélago.

According to the investigation, the vehicles were registered to relatives and persons associated with the suspect, although he actually owned and used them. At the same time, the cars were not listed in the official’s declarations. The former head was notified of a new suspicion of submitting knowingly false information to the declarations for 2024 and 2025 years.

One of the most telling episodes was the purchase in 2024 of an Audi RS7. The car was bought for 4 million UAH, but on the same day it was registered to the suspect’s mother, with another contract recording a price of only 100 thousand UAH. Thus, in one day the car’s price in the documents decreased by 40 times. Six months later the Audi was re-registered to another person for 4.2 million UAH, yet in the suspect’s declaration for 2024 the car still did not appear.

According to the investigation, the amount of false information in the declaration for 2024 amounts to 11.5 million UAH, and for 2025 — almost 13 million UAH.

The pre-trial investigation has been completed. The suspects have been given access to the criminal case materials for review. The prosecution is not disclosing the name of the enterprise or the names of the individuals involved.