OREANDA-NEWS. The Security Service of Ukraine disclosed a fraudulent scheme of embezzlement of the funds of the Antonov enterprise with the issuance of fictitious safety certificates for the aircraft. This was reported on Monday by the press service of the Ministry. “The secret service officers established that the colonel of one of the military missions of the Ministry of Defense organized the mechanism of embezzlement and misappropriation of funds of the state enterprise Antonov, said in a statement.

The security officers found that the inspections under the contracts weren't carried out, and "the planes were handed over to the customer with fake safety certificates, which could lead to emergencies and human victims". As a result of the actions of the suspect, Antonov suffered losses amounting to more than 5 million hryvnias (about $ 190 thousand).

The case is investigated under Part 5 of Art. 191 ("Assignment, embezzlement of property or taking possession of it through abuse of official position") of the Criminal Code of Ukraine. The police conducted searches, during which they found draft contracts, fictitious documents on their implementation, black accounting records, documents on the withdrawal of illegally obtained funds in one of the countries of Western Europe, and other evidence.

Investigators indicted the suspect, currently deciding on the choice of a preventive measure. The possible involvement in the transaction of other officials of the department is also checked.

Concern "Antonov" is engaged in the development, production and repair of aircraft series "An". It was founded as an experimental design bureau at the Novosibirsk aircraft factory under the leadership of Oleg Antonov. Since 1952, the company is located in Kiev. The most famous models of the aircraft are the An-2 (Kukuruznik), the passenger An-24, the large cargo An-124 (Ruslan), the world's largest An-225 aircraft (Mriya).