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Another high-profile case of budget funds embezzlement has been uncovered by the General Prosecutor’s Office. This time, the management of the Basketball Federation came under suspicion for illegally misappropriating nearly half a billion sums. This scandal has once again drawn attention to the issue of corruption in the country’s sports organizations.
How the Embezzlement Scheme Unfolded
According to the General Prosecutor’s Office, the executive director of the Basketball Federation conspired with the federation’s head of administration. Together, they orchestrated a fraudulent scheme by registering a company, S.A.G., in the names of the head of administration’s mother and brother. Through this company, 197 million sums were siphoned from the federation’s funds under the pretext of purchasing two specialized devices for monitoring athletes’ health. However, these devices were never delivered, and the money ended up in the hands of the scammers.
But this was only one episode of the criminal activity. The investigation also revealed that the first vice-president of the federation illegally withdrew 162 million sums from the organization’s corporate plastic card and used the funds for personal purposes. These actions were in blatant violation of the law and grossly breached financial regulations.
Additionally, the federation’s management signed a fake agreement for allegedly providing services to attract sponsors. Under this fraudulent contract, another 130 million sums were withdrawn from the federation’s budget. The funds meant for the development of sports and the support of basketball players were simply stolen and spent on the personal needs of officials.
A criminal case has been opened based on the uncovered facts.
The scandal surrounding the embezzlement of funds in the Basketball Federation once again highlights the need for stricter oversight of spending in sports organizations. It is crucial to intensify efforts to combat corruption and ensure that all funds allocated for sports truly reach the athletes and are used as intended.
Earlier, we reported that over 2 billion sums were embezzled from the Swimming Federation.
The text has been translated by AI. For more accurate information, please refer to the Russian version of the article