The law enforcement officers submitted to the court indictments against six persons involved in an organized criminal group, which in the Lviv region implemented a scheme to seize the funds of clients of one of the banks. About this informs National Police of Ukraine.
The cyber police of the Lviv region, together with the investigators of the regional police department and the employees of the Security Service of Ukraine, under the procedural guidance of the Lviv regional prosecutor’s office, exposed bank branch employees who embezzled funds from the accounts of a separate category of customers.
The investigation established that six bank employees, including the branch manager, organized an illegal scheme to access citizens’ accounts in 2023-2024. They acted in relation to clients who could be in the temporarily occupied territories or in the southern and eastern regions of Ukraine.
With access to customers’ personal data, attackers changed their financial phone numbers to controlled ones, which made it possible to log into online banking, reissue bank cards and conduct financial transactions without the owners’ knowledge.
In order to simulate the presence of customers in the branch during the replacement of the financial number or the reissuance of the card, the perpetrators used software tools to replace photos. Cards issued in the name of clients were personally received by the head of the branch. Subsequently, through ATMs or terminals in the bank, he withdrew cash from the accounts.
The law enforcement officers found out that funds from 19 accounts were embezzled. The total amount of damages exceeds 1 million hryvnias. During searches of the residences and registration of the participants of the criminal scheme, draft records with customer details, bank cards and mobile phones were seized.
The pre-trial investigation has been completed. The indictments against the suspects were submitted to the court under part. 3, 5 Art. 27, ch. 3 Art. 28, ch. 1, 3 Art. 362 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine. The sanctions of these articles include imprisonment for a term of up to six years with a ban on holding certain positions or carrying out relevant activities for up to three years.
