The National Anti-Corruption Bureau and the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office have announced suspicions against the former CEO of the state company "Ukrspetsexport," Dmitry Peregudov, for embezzlement and money laundering.
This information was reported by the press services of the authorities, without naming the suspect.
According to "Slovo i Delo" from its own sources, it is indeed Peregudov who is being prosecuted in the High Anti-Corruption Court for a different instance of embezzlement.
“Under the procedural guidance of the SAP prosecutor, NABU detectives informed the former CEO of the state company, which is authorized by the government to act as an intermediary in foreign economic activities related to the export and import of military and special-purpose products and services, of the suspicion. The actions of the former head of the company are classified under part 5 of Article 191, part 1 of Article 366, part 3 of Article 209 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine. Since the individual is hiding from the pre-trial investigation body, he has been notified of the suspicion in accordance with Articles 135 and 278 of the Criminal Procedure Code of Ukraine,” the prosecution informs.
According to NABU, the suspect, in collusion with others, illegally transferred funds from state enterprises to the accounts of foreign companies under the guise of "agency services" for the sale of Ukrainian military equipment. The total amount of these transfers exceeds $46 million. Part of these funds — no less than €13 million — was transferred through a number of transit companies and ended up in the suspect's accounts.
As per the investigation, Peregudov used these funds to purchase luxury real estate in France, which has been seized. Specifically, this includes:
- a villa (valued at 86 million UAH);
- a winery, corporate rights, and 105 plots of land (229 million UAH); – 27 vineyard plots (37 million UAH).
It is worth noting that the High Anti-Corruption Court has arrested the former Minister of Defense Dmitry Salamatin in absentia, as well as former CEO of "Ukrspetsexport," Dmitry Peregudov.
According to the investigation, in 2010-2012, former CEO of "Ukrspetsexport" Salamatin and Peregudov organized the baseless preparation of documents regarding supposed assistance in exporting weapons and military equipment to Kazakhstan for a company registered in the UAE. The basis for transferring remuneration to the agent was his assistance in attracting a foreign customer and concluding a foreign economic agreement for the supply of special-purpose products from one of the domestic enterprises. In reality, all agreements regarding the conclusion of the contract and further contacts concerning its execution were conducted directly between the Ukrainian side and the customer, without involving any third parties. As a result, the agent was illegally transferred more than $23.9 million.