Treason probe launched over possible abuse by ex-NBU officials damaging defense capabilities

The State Bureau of Investigation (SBI) at the request of the Office of the President of Ukraine has opened a case over possible abuses by officials of the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) that could undermine Ukraine's defense capabilities.

"The State Bureau of Investigation has registered a criminal case based on the consideration of a letter from the Office of the President of Ukraine on possible abuse of power by officials of the National Bank that could yield serious consequences and undermine national defense," SBI Press Secretary Anzhelika Ivanova said.

"The pretrial investigation will be carried out under Part 1 of Article 364 (abuse of authority or official position) and Part 1 of Article 111 (high treason in terms of undermining defense)," she added.

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So far, the SBI has not disclosed any figures related to the possible losses incurred.

According to Ivanova, the previous leadership of the National Bank is among the persons of interest to detectives.

As UNIAN reported earlier, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky announced the exposure of yet another corruption scheme in the defense industry, through which almost US$30 million had been siphoned to offshore accounts under "suspicious contracts."