An American military apparel supplier has accused the Ministry of Defense and the National Police of corruption. Here are the details.

The American company Sinclair & Wilde has accused the National Police of Ukraine and the Ministry of Defense of corruption and extortion of bribes.

This was reported by RBK-Ukraine citing Tsensor.Net.

"Sinclair & Wilde categorically denies the false and unfounded statements made in a recently released video by the National Police of Ukraine. It is clear that the publication of this story is an attempt by the National Police to cover up its own internal corruption and the corrupt nature of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine in its prolonged attempts to refuse after repeatedly declining to pay the bribes that were demanded," the open letter states.

The document notes that Sinclair & Wilde had five contracts for supplying military uniforms and textiles to the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine. A Turkish company acted as a subcontractor. Despite receiving all goods, the Ministry of Defense refused to pay $14.5 million. The company claims that the condition for the return of funds was the payment of a bribe.

"Throughout 2023, several individuals, including subjects of American and Ukrainian investigations, demanded bribes from Sinclair & Wilde to secure the payment of the remaining $14.5 million owed to them. Sinclair & Wilde refused and reported these requests to the authorities in the United States and Ukraine. In an effort to comply with the laws of both the United States and Ukraine, Sinclair & Wilde has drawn the attention of the U.S. Embassy in Kyiv, U.S. law enforcement, and Ukrainian law enforcement to the bribery demands and evident corruption within the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine for over a year," the letter states.

The company also claims that it provided the National Police of Ukraine with all confidential information, including witnesses and evidence disproving the allegations against Sinclair & Wilde.

"The response from the National Police of Ukraine was a leak of investigation details to former head of the Ministry of Defense's procurement department, Maksym Hrytsenko, and others, putting the lives of cooperating witnesses at risk, one of whom is a U.S. citizen. Just a few days after a confidential meeting with the National Police, Roman Balikin – a likely target of the current investigation – was aware of all the details of the meeting," Sinclair & Wilde reports.

Due to this incident, U.S. authorities have refused to continue cooperation with the National Police.

Sinclair & Wilde also denies the National Police's allegations of price inflation on the supplied products.

"Law enforcement and representatives of the defense agency inspected the uniforms and found that the prices charged by Sinclair & Wilde were below fair market value, especially considering the costs associated with delivery and logistics," the open letter notes.