A suspect in a green tariff fraud case was extradited from Poland

The owner of a private solar power plant, who is suspected of illegally receiving nearly 1.3 million hryvnias for electricity that was not actually generated, was extradited to Ukraine from Poland.

The Dnipropetrovsk Regional Prosecutor’s Office facilitated the extradition of the 44-year-old suspect.

According to the investigation, in 2019, the man organized a scheme to inflate the reported volume of solar electricity generated.

The investigation revealed that a meter with modified software had been installed at the power plant, which displayed readings ten times higher than the actual figures. Based on these readings, the power plant owner received payments under the “green” tariff. To conceal the tampering with the meter, the suspect enlisted the help of a technician from the power utility, who in turn recruited four other employees. These employees were supposed to inspect the meter but instead issued compliance certificates without conducting proper checks.

It was established that, in exchange for his assistance in carrying out the scheme, the organizer promised the technician 10% of the illegally obtained funds.

The investigation revealed that the suspect received nearly 1.3 million hryvnias for the inflated amounts of electricity generated between 2019 and 2022.

After searches were conducted and other participants in the scheme were exposed, the man fled abroad and went into hiding to evade the investigation. He was charged in absentia with fraud and organizing unauthorized interference with the operation of electronic computing machines—Part 4 of Article 190 and Part 2 of Article 361 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine.

The suspect was placed on an international wanted list and was subsequently detained in Poland. The local competent authorities granted the Ukrainian side’s request for the suspect’s extradition. On July 16 of this year, the request was fulfilled.

As for the other participants in the scheme—the company’s foreman and four of his subordinates—the indictment is currently pending before the court. In addition to Article 361, Part 2, they are charged with crimes under the following articles of the Criminal Code of Ukraine:

• Part 3 of Article 358—forgery of documents, seals, stamps, and forms; sale or use of forged documents, seals, or stamps;
• Part 2 of Article 364-1—abuse of authority by an official of a private-law legal entity, regardless of its organizational and legal form;
• Parts 1 and 2 of Article 366 – official forgery.

This was reported by the Office of the Prosecutor General.

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