The seizure of the property has been lifted

On June 2, 2023, the Shevchenkivskyi District Court of Kyiv put an end to a four-month legal battle between one of the largest meat product manufacturers and the Economic Security Bureau (ESB).
In February 2023, detectives from Ukraine’s Economic Security Bureau (ESB) visited the meat producer’s office and production facilities with a search warrant.
According to the case file, the meat producer allegedly engaged in fictitious and non-substantive business activities, ostensibly with the aim of generating an unfounded tax credit for third parties.
Refrigerated trucks filled with meat, a warehouse full of finished products, and shelves of source documentation did not surprise the BEB detectives—rather, they disappointed them.
BEB detectives seized and removed all source documentation, all raw materials, and all finished products located in our client’s production and warehouse facilities.
Subsequently, the investigating judge of the Shevchenkivskyi District Court of Kyiv denied the detectives’ request to seize the confiscated property. However, the Kyiv Court of Appeals, without the participation of attorneys, nevertheless ordered the seizure of the confiscated products. At the same time, the source documentation regarding the origin of the meat products was not taken into account.
At that point, the attorneys at Barristers Law Firm invoked the provisions of Article 174 of the Code of Criminal Procedure and filed a motion to lift the seizure and return the meat products to the company.
During the court hearing, BEB detectives told the investigating judge that the company was allegedly not only evading taxes but also showing signs of laundering proceeds obtained by criminal means, financing terrorism, and financing weapons of mass destruction. However, the investigating judge did not receive any relevant evidence from the Economic Security Bureau detectives and therefore granted the attorneys’ motion to lift the unlawful seizure of the property.
The issue of filing a lawsuit to recover damages caused to the company by the Economic Security Bureau is currently being decided.
The interests of the manufacturing company were defended by attorneys Vadym Kolokolnikov, Marisa Skuba, and Kostyantyn Globa of the law firm “Barristers.”