In Ukraine and Moldova, a fraudulent network was exposed that defrauded military personnel and volunteers of UAH 46 million
Since 2023, criminals have been deceiving Ukrainian servicemen, their families and volunteers, offering to sell non-existent cars and drones for the Armed Forces.
Ukrainian law enforcement officers, together with their Moldovan colleagues, detained a group of persons who fraudulently caused damages in the amount of 46 million hryvnias to servicemen of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, their families and volunteers. About this reported Headquarters of the National Police in Kyiv.
The illegal activities of the group were stopped by the investigators of the Investigative Department of the State Police in Kyiv together with operatives of the Cyber Police of Kyiv and under the procedural guidance of the Kyiv City Prosecutor’s Office, in cooperation with the Investigation Department “Center” of the National Investigation Inspectorate of the Republic of Moldova.
According to the investigation, a 34-year-old native of the Russian Federation organized the criminal group in 2023. He distributed roles among his accomplices, who were engaged in supplying SIM cards of Ukrainian mobile operators to the territory of Moldova, creating fake ads on popular electronic trading platforms, as well as conducting advertising campaigns to promote their “services” via the Internet.
The suspects posted ads for the sale of cars for the Armed Forces at discounted prices. Communicating with potential customers through messengers, they agreed on prepayment for the delivery of cars from abroad to Ukraine or for the purchase of drones. After that, the perpetrators demanded from the clients documents confirming their membership in the Armed Forces or volunteer activities. After receiving the money, the fraudsters mocked them, uttered slogans in support of Russia, deleted correspondence in messengers and blocked accounts.
As of now, the investigation has established 67 episodes of criminal activity of the suspects, and the preliminary amount of damages exceeds 46 million hryvnias.
For information The Office of the General Prosecutor of Ukraine, law enforcement officers managed to identify at least 27 members of the criminal group, most of whom are located on the territory of the Republic of Moldova. Actions are now being taken to arrest them.
Moldovan law enforcement officers conducted 23 searches during which about 61 thousand US dollars in cash, 20 luxury cars, about 5 kilograms of gold, mobile phones and bank cards were seized. 13 searches were conducted in Ukraine, during which 3 cars, mobile phones and bank cards were seized.
Moldovan law enforcement agencies suspected 9 citizens of Ukraine of fraud (under Part 6 of Article 190 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Moldova). Eight of them were remanded in custody without bail. The pre-trial investigation is ongoing.
