NABU did not name the name of the defendant, but the case file indicates that we are talking about the ex-director of the Polygraph Combine Maxim Stepanov, who headed the Ministry of Health of Ukraine from March 2020 to May 2021.
He was announced suspicion of receiving a bribe in the form of copyrights for the design of protective elements of passports and ID cards, as well as in the legalization of income received from their use.
According to the investigation, Stepanov probably demanded a bribe from a French company, which at one time developed these protective elements (stylized image of a trident, a map of Ukraine, etc.) and used them in the production of holograms for forms of Ukrainian documents. In exchange for this, the company got the opportunity to supply its products to the state enterprise through the Estonian laying company, controlled by the defendant. The company purchased materials at the market price and resold their Polygraph Combine four to six times more.
The illegally obtained copyrights were registered with this very Estonian company in the intellectual property office, NABU noted.
After the suspect from the post of head of the state -owned enterprise and the transition of the new management to direct purchases from the manufacturer, he concluded an agreement with the French company according to which the Estonian company paid a reward (royalties) for the use of design.
“During 2018–2021, approximately € 7 million royalties were received in the accounts of the Estonian company, which the suspect later legalized through controlled offshore companies. Some of them ($ 124.7 thousand) fell into his daughter,” the report said.
When considering this case, France law enforcement agencies give a legal assessment of the actions of persons involved in the transfer of intellectual property rights. In Estonia, five persons involved in the transaction were brought to criminal liability; five defendants reported suspicions in Ukraine.
