One of the Dubinsky brothers detained in Dnipropetrovsk Oblast

NABU and SAP exposed an organised criminal group that embezzled over 129 million hryvnia allocated for the restoration of critical infrastructure in Dnipropetrovsk Oblast.

According to the NABU press service, the criminal scheme was implemented in 2022-2023. The defendants won a tender and signed a contract with a municipal enterprise for the reconstruction of water pipes in the Kamianske district. The key link in the scheme turned out to be the beneficial owner of the winning company — an influential local businessman who had previously been placed on the FBI’s wanted list for property-related crimes.

The essence of the scheme

The majority of the contract costs consisted of pipe procurement. However, it emerged that the suspects used a controlled intermediary firm to purchase pipe products from the manufacturer at market price and then resell them to the municipal enterprise at a price more than three times higher. These actions caused losses to the budget amounting to over 129 million hryvnia.

Investigation details

The organiser of the criminal group has been detained. He and three other suspects have been charged under Article 191, Part 5, of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (“Embezzlement of property on an especially large scale”). Investigators continue to search for other accomplices in the scheme.

Among those detained is businessman Leonid Dubinsky, who, together with his brother Volodymyr, is on the FBI’s wanted list for real estate fraud in California.

Old connections and new scandals

Volodymyr Dubinsky’s name featured in materials from an investigation by “Ukrainska Pravda” into corruption in road repairs in Dnipropetrovsk Oblast. It is also known that Leonid Dubinsky was linked to the company “Budinvest Engineering”, founded by a fitness trainer and close friend of former head of the Dnipropetrovsk Regional State Administration Valentin Reznichenko.