Ukrainian police open probe into substandard bulletproof vests sale

A probe has been opened by law enforcement into sales of substandard bulletproof vests to the army and volunteers.

The Ukrainian police have opened an investigation into a suspected fraud after troops and volunteers were sold substandard bulletproof vests, the office of the country's Prosecutor General said on Saturday. A Kiev resident is said to have been running the sales scheme online.

The statement said that the man, whose identity has not been revealed, sold low-quality bulletproof vests for the needs of the Armed Forces and to volunteer organizations that provide assistance to the Ukrainian military. The suspect had advertised his products, through social networks and messengers, as bulletproof vests that contain armor plates made of high-quality industrial steel.

The man recruited several other Ukrainian citizens to his criminal scheme as a criminal larcener, the release continued. According to law enforcement, the suspect has been taken into custody. It is not known if any of his accomplices have been arrested.

The Prosecutor General s office explained that the vests he was selling contained low-quality metal plates that did not meet the army's standards. The supposedly bulletproof vests were not as described and easily penetrated by bullets and turned out to be ineffective even against shrapnel and shell fragments.

The law enforcement said that each vest sold for between 10,000 and 16,000 hryvnas, about $340 to $540. The amount was not revealed by the Prosecutor General's office.