The court denied the State Bureau of Investigation's request to seize 32 million hryvnias from drone manufacturer Viri
The Pechersky District Court of Kyiv denied the State Bureau of Investigations’ request to freeze 32 million hryvnias seized during searches at the Ukrainian drone manufacturer “Vyriy” (Vyriy Industries). Following the court’s decision, the funds were returned to the company.
“The court determined that the seized funds are not related to the criminal proceedings. Therefore, the request to freeze them was denied, and after the decision took effect, the funds were returned to Vyriy Industries,” the company said in a Facebook statement.
The company added that following the search—the legality of which the company questions—the case proceeded in accordance with the law and based on the facts.
“We have not changed our assessment of the events of the first day. But we also see that law enforcement agencies subsequently began acting within the bounds of the law. For me, this is a very important signal,” the statement quotes the company’s CEO, Oleksiy Babenko, as saying.
It is noted that during the search, court proceedings, and relocation, the company continued production and fulfilled its obligations to the Ukrainian Armed Forces.
As previously reported, as part of an investigation into the possible overpricing of unmanned aerial vehicles by the manufacturer “Vyrij,” the State Bureau of Investigation (DBR) was verifying information regarding the alleged use of a network of companies and sole proprietorships with signs of being fictitious to artificially inflate costs. On July 7, law enforcement officials conducted searches at the company, as well as at the residence of its owner and CEO—Babenko, a co-owner of the online publication “Babel.”
For his part, Babenko stated at a press conference that the sole proprietors mentioned by law enforcement in the case of possible overpricing of drones are manufacturers of drone components. As evidence that the allegations are unfounded, he noted that the price of the company’s FPV drones is approximately 20% lower than the market average.
Source: Vyriy
Read also: The State Bureau of Investigation is conducting searches at drone manufacturer Vyriy
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