KYIV, Ukraine -- This summer, Yuri Nikolov, a veteran Ukrainian investigative journalist, was quick to spot anomalies in customs clearance records for military jackets that the Ministry of Defense bought from a Turkish company for $20 million.
The jackets were marketed as being for winter use but were suspiciously lightweight, at just 1 kilogram apiece. Digging further, Nikolov obtained records of the shipment from Turkey and found the unit price of the jackets, about $29, had been changed to $89 when they entered Ukraine from Moldova. He suspected the goods in question were actually summer jackets whose price was inflated by claiming they were winter gear.
