Lviv region reports suspicion of fraudster who earned over 2 million hryvnias from fake search for missing soldier
In the Lviv region, a 63-year-old man is suspected of defrauding the brother of a missing serviceman of more than 2 million hryvnias, promising to help return the body. The Lviv Regional Prosecutor’s Office reported the suspicions.
Last year, at the defense attorney’s funeral, the suspect met a man whose son had been missing for six months. He stated that he had connections in the special services and the Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War.
According to the investigation, the man insisted that it was thanks to his help that the body of the soldier, at whose funeral they met, was returned, and later offered the family assistance in finding the body of the missing soldier.
During March–August, the suspect simulated conducting search operations, telling relatives where exactly the search was supposedly taking place and where he was going. At the same time, he asked for money for various expenses related to this process.
The investigation established that during this period the man was in the Lviv region and had no opportunity to conduct a real search for the missing soldier in the Bakhmut direction.
During the last transfer of funds, the soldier’s brother asked for more detailed information about the search results. In response, the suspect reported that the defender was allegedly alive and was in a pre-trial detention center in Voronezh, Russia.
After that, the relatives turned to the Coordination Headquarters with a request, but received a response that Ukrainian prisoners were not being held in the specified place. In total, during the so-called search, the brother of the missing soldier transferred more than 2 million 110 thousand hryvnias to the man. Realizing that he had become a victim of fraud, he turned to law enforcement.
Investigators informed the man of suspicion of committing fraud on an especially large scale under Part 5 of Article 190 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine. The sanction of the article provides for a penalty of imprisonment for a term of 3 to 8 years.
