In the Ternopil region, businessmen organised large-scale sand extraction without holding any permits. They also involved third parties in the illegal activity, who were unaware that they were committing a crime. As a result, the environment suffered damage amounting to over 48.2 million hryvnias over a three-year period.
As noted by the Office of the Prosecutor General, three participants in the scheme have already been served with notices of suspicion.
Essentially a business, but an illegal one
The illegal extraction was clearly organised with a division of roles. According to the investigation, one of the company’s founders was the mastermind behind the scheme. He is accused of both devising the plan itself and coordinating the operations, finding buyers and controlling the cash flows.
His accomplices were the company’s director, who used the company as a front for the entire scheme and maintained the specialist equipment, and another co-founder, who took on part of the responsibilities — documenting the deliveries and using the bank details of a sole trader under his control.
Large-scale mining operations without permits
The scene of the crime was the ‘Bolyazubivske-3’ deposit. The fraudsters ‘operated’ there from August 2021 to October 2024. In November 2023, the company did eventually obtain a permit, albeit only for geological exploration.
Source: Office of the Prosecutor General
Everything resembled ordinary mining operations, with excavators and loaders. The work was carried out by employees who were unaware that all of their actions were illegal.
Legalization of stolen resources
During the period of illegal extraction, more than 53,600 cubic meters of sand with a market value of UAH 11.3 million were removed from the subsoil. At the same time, the accomplices are also responsible for significant environmental damage, with losses exceeding UAH 48.2 million.
The scheme not only involved extraction but also the sale of the stolen minerals. The suspects managed to sell and deliver to buyers over 51,600 cubic meters of sand worth more than UAH 12.4 million.
“Company and controlled individual entrepreneur’s details were used for selling the mineral resource. Contracts, issue documents, and goods-transport invoices were drawn up in their names, misleading buyers regarding the legal origin of the sand,” the prosecutor general’s office explained.
Investigative actions
Law enforcement officers conducted 17 searches, seizing records, phones, and luxury vehicles.
The participants in the scheme face charges under two articles at once – illegal extraction of locally significant minerals committed by an organized group, causing serious consequences, as well as legalization of property obtained by criminal means, committed by an organized group on a large scale.
EcoPolitic previously reported that in Kirovohrad region, due to illegal granite extraction, the state sustained losses amounting to UAH 1.2 billion. The suspicion was served to an insolvency administrator who was supposed to oversee the liquidation of the enterprise.
More about environmental crimes can be found in the weekly digests of EcoPolitic.
