Bribe of over a million dollars for housing construction: NABU exposes former Defense Ministry official in corruption

NABU and SAPO have completed a pre-trial investigation into the case of the former head of one of the Central Territorial Departments of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine. He is suspected of receiving illegal benefits for assisting in winning a competition to build housing for the military in Kyiv.

This was reported by the NABU press service .

NABU and SAPO have opened criminal proceedings to the defense. The defendant in the case is a former official of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, who is suspected of extorting illegal benefits from a capital city developer.

According to the investigation, the official offered to ensure the company’s victory in the competition for the construction of a residential building for military personnel in the Svyatoshynskyi district of Kyiv.

To implement the scheme and avoid direct contact with the developer, he enlisted two accomplices from among the officials of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine and the Armed Forces of Ukraine. The cost of the so-called “services” was estimated at 1.3 million US dollars.

It was planned that the funds would be transferred in three tranches through bank vaults. The first tranche of 100 thousand US dollars was to be transferred before the start of the competition. The second tranche of 400 thousand US dollars was planned upon signing the construction contract. The third tranche of 800 thousand US dollars was to be paid after the completion of the first stage of construction.

After the competition began, the developer requested that the amount of the illegal gain be reduced to $1 million. The official agreed to change the terms.

In June 2025, after the transfer of the first tranche of $100,000, the accomplices were caught red-handed.

Despite the veiled nature of the actions, detectives gathered evidence implicating the former official in the crime. This became the basis for reporting him on suspicion in August 2025.

One of the accomplices is already on trial. Another accomplice and a former employee of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine are being held in custody.

The crime was uncovered by the NABU and the SAPO based on materials from the National Police of Ukraine.

It was previously reported that NABU is planning a series of large-scale inspections of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine due to suspicions of systematic price overpricing during the procurement of products, uniforms, and fuel for the Armed Forces. Investigators intend to cover procurement departments, financial units, and supplier companies that worked with the army.

As a reminder, NABU and SAPO exposed a large-scale scheme organized by officials of the State Special Communications Service and representatives of private companies, thanks to which 90 million hryvnias were stolen during the procurement of drones for the military.

As reported, NABU conducted searches at all the persons involved in the case of embezzlement of budget funds for the construction of fortifications in the Poltava Autonomous Okrug.

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