Criminals attempted to steal 18 million hryvnias from a missing scientist from Bucha
Ukrainian law enforcement agencies have uncovered a criminal group that attempted to illegally seize the assets of renowned scientist Mykola Kolbun following his mysterious disappearance during the Russian occupation of Bucha.
According to the investigation, the perpetrators devised a cynical scheme to appropriate the academician’s property and funds, the total value of which exceeds 18 million hryvnias.
Mykola Kolbun—an academician of the Ukrainian and European Academies of Sciences and a recognized expert in the field of bioengineering—lived alone in Bucha.
In March 2022, while the city was under the control of Russian invaders, the 77-year-old scientist suddenly disappeared, which provided the basis for criminal actions by individuals close to him.
As established by the investigation of the Office of the Prosecutor General, the criminal group included the scientist’s girlfriend, who helped him with household chores.
She acted in collusion with her partner and an acquaintance—a native of the Chechen Republic of the Russian Federation—counting on impunity due to the chaos of wartime.
The perpetrators organized a large-scale document forgery scheme, including tampering with the Inheritance Registry.
The suspects’ next step was an attempt to have the academician officially declared dead through the courts, which would have given them direct access to his multimillion-dollar estate.
However, law enforcement managed to block the implementation of this plan in time and initiate criminal proceedings.
As part of the investigation, 16 searches were conducted in various regions of Ukraine, and over 30 witnesses were questioned. The woman and her partner have already been notified of the charges, while the Russian citizen was charged in absentia.
The suspects are charged with fraud on an especially large scale and unauthorized handling of state information.
As a reminder, police notified the director of a contracting company and a technical supervision engineer of their status as suspects in a case involving the embezzlement of budget funds.
NABU warned of the appearance of a clone of its website.
NABU also explained why corrupt officials are being released on bail.
