“Kyiv Jewelry Factory” and its “shadow army”: law enforcement seeks access to bank secrecy regarding financial operations of 50 sole traders
The largest jewelry manufacturer in Ukraine has likely found itself at the center of a large-scale investigation into possible multi-million-dollar tax evasion schemes.
Law enforcement agencies have requested the disclosure of banking secrecy related to the “Kyiv Jewelry Factory” (KJF), as well as to a network of private entrepreneurs whose activities are being examined for possible involvement in minimizing tax liabilities and causing damage to the state budget.
This information was obtained by UA.NEWS from its own sources.
Who is under investigation
At the center of the investigation is LLC “KYIV JEWELRY FACTORY” — a market giant which, according to investigators, may have for years employed a business fragmentation scheme. In addition to the factory, detectives are examining the accounts of 54 individual entrepreneurs who allegedly acted as intermediaries to legalize unrecorded profits and move funds into the shadow economy.
Law enforcement agencies suspect that, under the guise of retail trade conducted through sole proprietors, the company may have effectively created a closed cycle of tax minimization, posing a threat to the country’s economic security during wartime.
The “jewelry scheme”
The mechanism under investigation is notable for its scale: a large business allegedly distributes its revenue among dozens of sole proprietors. According to investigators, this may allow the company to remain within the limits of the simplified taxation system, avoid paying value-added tax, and convert billion-level turnover into “grey” cash.
The investigation points to signs of coordinated group activity: among the listed entrepreneurs are even family-linked businesses (including individuals with the surnames Katerynych, Ovdii, and Khrushch), which may indicate that these entities were artificially created.
IP addresses and “Client-Bank” systems
Law enforcement agencies have also requested that banks provide:
- telecommunications data, including phone numbers and IP addresses used to access accounts;
- technical identification data (MAC addresses), indicating the specific devices used to carry out transactions.
What investigators are looking for
The request covers a defined period. Detectives are examining the accounts of LLC “KYIV JEWELRY FACTORY” and dozens of individual entrepreneurs.
Law enforcement authorities are interested in all available information — from payment purposes to account balances and identification data of counterparties.
“Veterans” of KJF
The scheme is allegedly led by elderly individuals. Among the key sole proprietors handling million-level turnover in precious metals trading are 76-year-old Tetiana Hyria and 72-year-old Vanda Bober.
Detectives are assessing whether individuals of advanced age realistically have the capacity to independently conduct large-scale wholesale operations involving precious metals, which typically require specialized logistics and infrastructure.
Geography and profiles. The geographic distribution and age profile of these entrepreneurs is striking: from Kremenchuk to Vyshneve, and from villages in Zakarpattia to Mykolaiv, jewelry business owners linked to KJF appear across nearly every region.
There are also cases of short-term business activity, where entities cease operations shortly after conducting significant financial transactions.
For example, Liubov Buhera registered her jewelry business in October 2023 and closed it in January 2024. This raises questions as to whether such entities were used for rapid cash turnover and subsequently dissolved in order to erase traces prior to tax inspections.
“Wholesale ladies” from apartment blocks
Analysis of registration data reveals a pattern: more than 50 pensioners linked to KJF listed wholesale trade in watches and jewelry (KVED 46.48) as their primary activity.
At the same time, many of these individuals are registered at ordinary residential apartments, without any infrastructure required for large-scale distribution. This may indicate the potentially fictitious nature of their operations.
Multi-purpose participants
One of the entrepreneurs, in addition to jewelry trading, is officially engaged in real estate rental, the sale of second-hand goods, and even software distribution. Such diversification may indicate the use of this individual as a financial intermediary for various types of transactions.
Where the pensioners come from
Among the individuals mentioned is entrepreneur Malinovskyi, whose relative previously worked in the Pension Fund of Ukraine. This may help explain the unusually large number of pensioners involved in the network.
Analysts suggest that the mass registration of businesses in the names of elderly individuals may indicate access to personal data of specific population groups, which is currently being examined as part of the pre-trial investigation.
Addresses and finances
Some companies linked to the factory are registered at so-called “mass registration” addresses (with more than ten companies registered at a single location), which is a common indicator of shell companies used for financial transactions.
Financial analysis over the past five years reveals anomalies: after a prolonged period of low indicators, there was a sharp increase in 2024, followed by a decline in 2025. Such dynamics are often associated with the manipulation of financial reporting.
Systemic business fragmentation
Behind the facade of the national brand KJF, whose beneficiary since 2017 has been Vitalii Simchuk, there may be a large-scale model of business fragmentation.
Instead of operating as a single transparent entity, the company may have distributed its profits among dozens of intermediaries.
Each of the more than 50 individual entrepreneurs — ranging from a 25-year-old entrepreneur to pensioners aged over 75 — allows the company to remain within the limits of the simplified taxation system, potentially depriving the state of millions in value-added tax and corporate profit tax.
The current interest of law enforcement agencies suggests that such practices are coming under increasing scrutiny. What may once have appeared to be a network of independent small businesses could, in reality, have functioned as a coordinated industrial system designed to minimize taxation.
Previously reported: the first Ukrainian defense plant has begun operations in the United Kingdom — a production facility of Ukrspecsystems.
