In Odesa, a businessman will stand trial for fraud involving ₴2.5 million and for attempting to eliminate a business partner

In the Odesa region, a 50-year-old businessman is set to stand trial on charges of misappropriating shares in his business partner’s companies worth nearly 2.5 million hryvnias. According to the investigation, the man tried for several years to remove the woman from their joint business and eventually succeeded in transferring all shares in the companies to his name.

Prosecutors from the Odesa Regional Prosecutor’s Office have filed an indictment with the court. 

The entrepreneur is charged with fraud committed on an especially large scale (Part 4 of Article 190 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine).

According to the investigation, in 2016, a 34-year-old woman became a partner in two limited liability companies that sold liquefied gas at gas stations.

She owned 49% of the authorized capital of one company and 50% of the other. The current defendant was the other co-owner of both companies.

For over four years, the partners jointly managed the companies and maintained a friendly relationship. However, in 2021, according to law enforcement officials, the man decided, without his partner’s knowledge, to illegally seize her shares.

To do so, according to the investigation, he resorted to various methods to remove the woman from the management of the companies.

First, the businessman initiated her dismissal from her position as a lawyer at one of the companies. Later, he attempted to remove his partner from the list of LLC members, citing her alleged failure to contribute 245,000 UAH to the authorized capital.

In addition, the man appealed to the state registrar, and after being denied, he challenged the decision in court. According to the investigation, he also removed the victim from the list of members of the companies and held unilateral meetings of members.

According to the investigation, these actions enabled the man to obtain notarized documents in 2023 confirming the removal of his business partner from the list of members of both companies.

As a result, 100% of the shares in the companies were registered in the defendant’s name.

He subsequently purchased the companies’ real estate and transferred ownership of the buildings and land plots of gas stations located in various parts of the city to a new company he had established.

According to the prosecutor’s office, the victim suffered losses of nearly 2.5 million hryvnias.

Currently, at the request of the prosecutor’s office, the entrepreneur’s property has been seized. Additionally, as part of the case, a lawsuit has been filed against him as the defendant seeking compensation for the damages caused.

The pretrial investigation was conducted by the Investigative Department of the Main Directorate of the National Police in the Odesa region.

The indictment has been submitted to the court. The entrepreneur’s guilt must be established by a court ruling.

This was reported by the Odesa Regional Prosecutor’s Office.