In Odesa, company executives were arrested for attempting to legalize stolen grain from Mariupol.
In Odesa, the Security Service of Ukraine detained the director and head of a laboratory at the foreign company's branch in Odesa, who legalized 7 857 tons of wheat stolen from the occupied Mariupol. The perpetrators falsified documents to prove the grain's Russian origin in order to sell it on the international market. The detainees face up to 12 years in prison with confiscation of property.
In Odesa, the Security Service of Ukraine detained the managers of a company that organized a scheme to legalize stolen grain from Mariupol.
According to the investigation, in 2024, Russian occupiers loaded the stolen wheat onto the sanctioned vessel "Alpha M" in the port of Mariupol. From there, the grain was transported to the port of Temryuk in the Krasnodar region of Russia, where initial fictitious documents were created, purportedly indicating that the cargo originated from Russia.
To finalize the deal and legalize the product on the international market, representatives from Russia contacted the management of the Odesa branch of a company specializing in the research and certification of agricultural products. The director of the branch and the head of the laboratory, aware of the Ukrainian origin of the stolen wheat, "on paper" organized its research and issued a fictitious conclusion stating that the wheat was supposedly of Russian origin.
During the searches of the offices and residences of the detainees, computer equipment, mobile phones, documents, and forged laboratory reports were seized. The court chose a preventative measure for both suspects, which is detention. They face up to 12 years of imprisonment with confiscation of property.