The SBI has notified a tax officer of suspicion in connection with which a mining company underpaid more than UAH 70 million in environmental tax to the budget

SBI officers informed the former chief state auditor-inspector of a department of the State Fiscal Service in Dnipro region of suspicion, which resulted in the loss of tens of millions of hryvnias to the state budget.

It was discovered that during the inspection of one of the mining and processing plants in Dnipro region, the official did not document that the company had to pay more than UAH 70 million in environmental tax to the budget.

Due to the principled position of the SBI, the plant admitted non-payment of environmental tax and adjusted its tax liabilities on its own in the course of the pre-trial investigation. Over UAH 36 million has already been refunded to the budget.

The former tax officer is suspected of official negligence that caused grave consequences (Part 2 of Article 367 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine).

The sanction of the article provides for imprisonment for up to 5 years.

The Dnipropetrovs'k Regional Prosecutor's Office is providing procedural supervision.

At the end of last year, the SBI sent to court an indictment against the former deputy head of the State Fiscal Service in Dnipro region and the chief state auditor-inspector.

Due to their negligence, another plant avoided paying almost UAH 50 million in environmental tax. Thanks to the SBI, the company returned almost UAH 30 million to the budget.