In the Zhytomyr region, an investigation has begun into the case of five people accused of illegal export of timber. According to information provided by the press service of the Zhytomyr region police, investigators have completed a pre-trial investigation into the actions of an organized group involved in the illegal export of Ukrainian pine. According to the police, the damage caused amounted to more than 17 million hryvnia.
The organizer of the illegal scheme, according to investigators, was a 34-year-old Kiev resident. At the end of 2020, he began purchasing illegally cut pine trees from forests and shelterbelts. To legalize this wood, he involved his company’s accountant and three other private entrepreneurs. They falsified official sales and purchases using their own details and seals.
Two women from the organized group were working with documentation. One of them falsified information about the purchase of wood and advised other participants in the scheme on forging documents. The second was involved in preparing materials and obtaining the appropriate certificates for exporting wood to the State Forestry Agency.
Over almost 2.5 years of illegal activity (until April 2023), more than 7.8 thousand m2 of timber were illegally extracted and processed. After examining more than 500 documents prepared by members of the group, police discovered that virtually one in five of them were fake.
According to the investigation, for the sale of forest products abroad with a German company, members of the group received more than 7.1 million hryvnia. They then carried out financial transactions for the purpose of legalizing (laundering) money, such as currency exchange, transfers to the accounts of group members, as well as simulating payments for the purchase and sale of wood.
The activities of the criminal group were exposed by operatives of the criminal investigation department of the Main Directorate for Police of the Zhitomir region together with employees of the regional department of internal affairs. The pre-trial investigation was completed by investigators from the investigative department of the GUNP in the Zhytomyr region under the procedural leadership of the regional prosecutor's office.
Five members of the organized group were charged with committing a number of crimes, such as smuggling of timber and valuable tree species, legalization of property obtained by crime, illegal logging or illegal transportation, storage, sale of timber, as well as forgery of documents, seals, stamps and forms, sale or use counterfeit documents, seals, stamps. For these crimes, criminals may face punishment in the form of imprisonment for up to 12 years, with deprivation of the right to hold certain positions or engage in certain activities for up to 3 years, as well as confiscation of property.
According to the Zhytomyr Regional Prosecutor's Office, the property of the suspects has been seized. According to experts, the state suffered damage worth more than 17 million hryvnia. Currently, a claim has been filed to recover damages from the defendants in full. Lumber and approximately 230 pine logs seized during the search were also seized. To ensure further confiscation, a private house, two apartments, a car and a share in the authorized capital of a legal entity belonging to the suspects were seized.
As Zhitomir.info reported, in October 2023, Zhytomyr investigators exposed dealers who illegally exported almost 2 thousand cubic meters of wood during 2021-2023. Then two accomplices were charged with suspicion on three counts. At the beginning of April 2024, investigators announced suspicions to 5 members of the group.
